Fall From Grace
by StanfordBound2020
Summary: After admitting that he was responsible for nearly closing Rose's school, Ace's life was practically over. Sure, Rose let him enroll for real, but he still felt the burn. Students and adults hated him. His parents bullied him. He felt everything he built up in his life unraveling. Can Wes and Rose, two of his only former friends save him before it's too late? PLEASE REVIEW. :)
1. Screwed

_"_ _Dad, I'm sorry. I just wanted to make you proud…" Ace mumbles meekly, cowering back from his father. Mr. De La Cruz is so red with rage, the veins on his neck popped out. He starts towards the boy and strikes him across the face. Ace recoils back and grips the counter behind him. He lets out a tiny wince, further enraging his father._

 _"_ _We came from NOTHING, and you want to bring us back to NOTHING?!" the older man roared. Ace feels his face burn and his stomach churn. He has heard this all too many times. He was a failure, and everyone knew it. He failed to win the Hamilton internship. But what was even worse was that he turned against his friend Rose, one of his only true friends and tried to get her school closed down. He'd been expelled from Kelper afterward._

 _In spite of everything…Rose let him come back to her school. She forgave him, after he nearly destroyed what she worked so hard for. Of course, people still didn't trust him. Not even Wes. Forgiveness or not, he was a social pariah. It was even worse at home. His mother barely spoke to him. His father let him know at every chance what a disappointment he was. Whether it is physical or verbal._

 _"_ _That's enough, dear," his mother interjects. His father leers at him, and then leaves his room. His mother shakes his head in disapproval before leaving as well. Ace groans, and sinks to the ground, clutching his bruised cheek. Normally, he would have freaked out about anything making him look unsuccessful, but now, he feels he deserves everything he got coming to him._

* * *

Someone taps him on the shoulder, causing him to jump. Not like many people wanted to speak to him. They proved speaking about him, regardless if whether he was around or not. He looks up into a familiar concerned dark face and curly cotton candy pink hair. Rose. Of course. Only she would occasionally come and see him. Not like she felt bad for him. Students still gave him dirty looks and whispered to one another.

Heart aching on the inside, he looks up at her with an uninterested glance. "What?"

She smiles faintly and says, "I never see you at lunch anymore, Ace. Is everything ok?"

There were a million ways he could respond. "Yes. Everything's fine," he states blankly. Rose didn't budge. Her brown eyes rested on the amount of paperwork on the table. She looks up at the open sky around them and sighs.

"Ace, it's such a beautiful day out here. You know you don't have to work all the time," she comments. "Why don't you come eat lunch with me and my friends?"

Ace freezes. Sweet, still naïve Rose. The friends he had were long gone. He only had enemies. Not like her friends would ever want him at his table.

"Gee…that's real sweet of you, Rose, but…I think I'm fine he-"

A loud, growling noise interrupts him rejecting Rose's offer. It was then he remembers he hadn't eaten breakfast this morning. Or dinner last night. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember the last time this week he'd eaten a decent meal. He was too ashamed to show up at the table anymore, and chose to eat leftovers instead. And of course he had to mortify himself in front of Rose.

He inhales sharply and tries to act like the transgression hadn't happened. Rose isn't buying it. His stomach gurgles again in hunger. " _Damn you! Be quiet,"_ he mentally curses his body, clasping a hand underneath his shirt, attempting to silence his gut.

"Umm…Ace?" goes her soft voice. "I really think you could use a lunch break…We're heading down to a pizza place soon…so…maybe you should come with us."

The fact that she was still trying to reach out to him despite their past infuriates him. Who was she, to so easily forgive him after manipulating her and her friends? Why would they want to hang out with him?! He never got that about Rose. She was too nice. Too…weak.

"I can't," he states point blank. "I'm busy."

"But-"

"But nothing, Rose!" Ace snaps uncontrollably. "Look, I know you're just trying to be nice so you can get your revenge on me for what I did. Well guess what? I already got it!"

Rose pales. "What? I w-wasn't trying to get revenge on you! Ace, please listen."

"You said it yourself to my parents. I can't be trusted. And frankly, neither can you. I found out about the picture you were planning to show to everyone at the banquet. Wes told me yesterday," he mumbles.

"I changed my mind when I saw how happy you were with your parents," Rose pleads. Ace snickers a little.

"Heh, me happy with my parents. Good one," he chuckles. "I'll tell you what. I'll go with you and your friends, but don't expect me to act like I'm enjoying myself."

Rose looks like she wants to say something else, but wisely keeps her mouth shut and nods. Ace rises and follows her monotonously.

The first person Ace sees is Julian. The strapping jock had a few inches on him, and as he glares at Ace, he feels like a small bug.

"Rose, is Ace bothering you?" he thunders, getting closer to Ace than he would have liked. Fortunately, Ace gets in between them.

"No, Julian! He's going to eat lunch with us," she answers. Ace looks down at his shoes, trying to avoid the football player's gaze.

"Rosie, I know you mean well, but you do realize this is the same guy who tried to CLOSE THE SCHOOL?" He snaps, pointing accusingly at the former Kelper student. He felt even more useless every time someone brought up the mess with the council. He bites his lip and tries to hold back his tears.

"Julian…everyone needs a second chance. Remember how you used to bully Nishan, and now you guys are close friends? Or how about Mia, who used to side with Hearst before she transferred here?" Rose pleads.

"That's different. Mia and I were just mean. Perhaps even cruel. But not to the point of ruining something cherished," he asserts, crossing his arms in defiance. Ace feels a wave of nausea rash over him. He mumbles an excuse and turns to leave. He runs smack into Wes, his former slacker buddy.

"W-wes! I didn't expect to see you here," He stammers. Wes looks at him, as if trying to see if he's pulling a fast one, then shrugs.

"Yeesh, I've never seen you this jumpy before," he comments. "You look like you haven't eaten or slept in days. This is pretty funny, considering your parents basically spoil you rotten."

"It's not like that at all," Ace retorts too quickly for his liking. "I'm just having an off day. I was heading to lunch."

"Right," Wes says suspiciously. "And Rose and Julian are here why?"

"He's coming with us. Come on, we only have so long for lunch," Rose answers for him.

* * *

All of them are staring at him. Some subtly, some not-so-subtly. Autumn, Mia and Payton exchange questionable glances between shakes on fries. Julian exemplifies his intense loathing in his hands squeezing the grease out of his burger. Nishan and Sakura text each other from opposite ends of the table, occasionally looking up at Ace. Ezra tunes his guitar, trying to ignore the obvious elephant in the room. Even Rose couldn't find something to say. It was silent at the table, with the exception of chewing, slurping, and the occasional wrinkling.

Finally, Julian stands up. Rose looks up at him, her eyes pleading with him to sit back down before he does something he might regret.

"Alright, I can't take it anymore. It's pretty clear what's wrong here," he seethes, glowering at Ace. Ace was taking short, shallow breaths, trying to concentrate on his barely touched food. He knows what Julian is trying to say. He wasn't welcome here. He swallows hard, gazing at the vanilla milkshake.

"Julian, don't do this," Rose begs, but Julian is beyond reason.

"I WON'T EAT WITH A GUY WHO TRIED TO TAKE AWAY THE ONLY FAMILY I'VE EVER KNOWN!" he roars, pointing accusingly at Ace. Ace's eyes widened, his mouth hung open in shock. Someone had gotten up and finally said it in person. He gets up, and runs out of the fast food joint, tears starting to stream down his cheeks. He hears chairs scraping and the pounding of feet. This only makes him run faster. No way could they see his tears. Especially Julian.

"Ace, wait! Julian didn't mean what he said!" Rose calls after him.

"Oh, yes I did! The guy has no heart!" Julian retorts.

His heart skipped a beat. The sudden loss of concentration made him trip and fall. The hard asphalt grinds against his face and palms. Rose and the others finally catch up to him.

"Oh my gosh, is he OK?" Autumn worriedly asks. Ace slowly lifts his head and the others gasp, even Julian.

"I understand the scrapes on his cheeks and palms, but the bruise at his eye and shaking hands aren't from the fall," Nishan observes.

"Rose said you looked rather pale and malnourished," Sakura adds. "I have a feeling your parents weren't happy with what happened with the Council."

Ace groans and turns paler. They were slowly finding out just how much of a screw-up he had become. "It's not what you think. My dad and I had an argument, and I guess I've been too on edge to eat anything."

Wes crouches on the ground until he and Ace are at eye level. "Look," he begins. "I've seen you and your dad fight. And I've seen you on edge before. It's nothing like this. We may not be on the best of terms right now, but…I want to know if one of my friends is being hurt."

Ace lurches off of the ground, fear evident on his face. "No! You don't want to know! My life is falling apart at the seams and it's my entire fault. I wish I never met any of you!" Ace hollers. He turns to Rose. Sweet, innocent Rose. "Especially you, Rose. I think your softness may have rubbed off on me. I should have finished your school when I had the chance."

Rose's eyes widen and fill with tears. She whispers, "You don't really mean that, do you?"

"Damn right, Mary Sue," he hisses. The others murmur amongst each other. "Yeah, I called her a Mary Sue. So what? Literally NO person had things ALWAYS work out for them in the end like you do. Especially not me. Maybe it was a mistake moving to your school."

"I think the lack of food is starting to get to you. How 'bout we cut afternoon classes so you can cool down," Wes offers. At first, Ace opens his mouth to say no, but his head starts to spin. He has no choice but to agree. Wes helps him to his feet. He sways a little, but Wes and Rose hold him steady.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" He demands, his voice slurring with weakness.

"We're friends, Ace. Friends don't let friends hurt themselves," Rose states with a small smile. Ace is too tired to make a snide remark about friends. When they get him into Wes's car, he passes out almost immediately.

* * *

"We're here," Wes shouts, waking Ace up with a start.

Disoriented, he mumbles, "Where's 'here'?"

He looks up and sees a B and B out the window. Ace shakes his head. "I'm not hungry."

"Yeah," Wes agrees. "You're starving. Come out the car and we'll go in together."

He stalks over to Ace's side and opens the door so he can come out. Ace, not willing to be budged, mutters, "I'm not hungry."

"Ok, are you going to come out willingly or do I have to pull a Julian on you?" Wes warns him, putting his hands in his pockets. Reluctantly, he slinks out of the car. He eyes Wes suspiciously, trying to figure out his motives.

"Relax, I don't have a loaded gun lying around anywhere," He says casually. Ace frowns at him and turns in the other direction. "Hey, I didn't cut class so you could skip out on me. Besides, you'll end up passing out again along the way. At least get something to eat first."

"No."

"You've already hurt Rose more than once. Do you really want to do it again by hurting yourself?"

Ace stops dead in his tracks. He'd already called Rose a Mary Sue and made her cry; even after everything she did for him. He had a burning desire for her to hate him, just like everyone at school did. And yet, she was the only one who dared to break down his cool exterior and get to know the real him on the inside.

With gritted teeth he relents, "Fine. But only for the sake of Rose."

"Atta boy," Wes cackles, dragging him into the B and B. A pretty scarlet-haired hostess with "Janice" on her tag peers down at the two teens. She glances at Wes, but fixes her eyes on Ace. It's like everyone in town knew what he did. Well of course they did. He admitted at the district meeting!

"How may I help you sir," she cheerfully asks Wes while ignoring Ace.

Ace turns to leave again. Wes grabs him by his arm and pulls him close.

"My _friend_ and I would like a table for two, please," he requests, flashing the hostess a cheeky grin.

Fighting the urge to tell them to get lost, she politely states, "Right this way, sir."

Ace tugs at Wes's arm. "Let me go," he hisses. "I'm not wanted here."

"You could be the social pariah of this district-"

"Which I am."

"-but I would care if something happened to my friend because he refused to eat at a store he wasn't wanted at. This isn't the Ace I know. The one who could charm and weasel his way in and out of places and situations. If I was as gifted as you are, we would have been a great team at Kepler," Wes snaps.

"Oh sure" Ace agrees sarcastically. "The politician and the slacker: Partners in Crime."

"Don't knock it 'till you try it," Wes remarks as they take their seats and open the menu. Wes sees food. Ace sees his end.


	2. Second Chance

He feels their whispers circulate around the B and B. Ace buries his head in his arms as he and Wes wait for their food. Wes reaches over and picks it up for him.

"Pick your head up, Ace. You're only letting them win," he states. Ace glowers at him with narrowed eyes.

"Easy for you to say. At least some people still like you. At least you didn't turn against your friends and push everyone away, "Ace mutters. A waitress with short blond hair arrives with their food. Ace notices she takes an extra long time looking at him before leaving. He sees her talking with the hostess and occasionally pointing at him. He looks at his meal. In spite of how hungry he was he couldn't bring himself to eat. Not with everyone staring. Watching. Talking. It was like the whole restaurant had gone nearly silent. A cheerleader from their school, Ava, dares to saunter over to their table.

"Like, what is _he_ doing here?" Ava accuses almost immediately. Ace starts getting that worthlessness feeling in him again.

"He has a right to be here," Wes defends him calmly. "It's not like he committed a crime."

"He tried to get the school closed down. Who does that?" she sneers.

"People make mistakes, Ava," Wes replies. "I know Nate did when you and he hooked up."

" _Nate_ didn't turn friends against each other. _I_ didn't make Rose resign. So don't lump US with HIM," she snaps. With a huff, she turns away and storms off. When Wes looks at Ace again, his face is down cast and shiny with tears. Ace sees Wes staring and turns away.

"Don't look at me like that," he sniffs. "She's right anyway. I am a bad person."

"Frankly I don't think you're a bad person. You're just a human who made a bad choice," Wes assures him, smirking. "And forget what Ava said. If anything, she has no room to talk. I've heard (and started) some rumors about her."

For once, Wes gets a small laugh out of Ace. "Wow," he chuckles. "I did not know you stooped that low."

Wes suddenly becomes sober. "I only did it because…she was spreading some things about you."

"What…did she say?" Ace asks warily. Wes shakes his head.

"Not important. What's important is that you finish off your plate," he answers, pointing at Ace's still full plate. Ace sighs, and picks up his fork.

* * *

Stuffed to the brim, Ace leans in the back of Wes's car. It had been agony eating there with a million eyes watching him. But Wes wouldn't let him leave until his plate was completely empty. He moans and lies on his back.

"Someday, we'll look back at this and laugh," Wes chuckles to himself.

"But today (provided I don't explode) I'm going to kill you for putting me through this," Ace mutters, clutching his stomach and turning green.

With a start, Wes stops the car, hops out and runs, yelling, "You can't kill what you can't catch!" They have arrived at the school, and the students are starting to pile out. Ace looks out for Rose and the others. He isn't sure he wants to see them again, but he feels he has to make things right after that outburst during lunch.

"I actually thought you'd come and chase me," Wes teases as the others head to his car.

"I would if I wasn't so-"Ace however is interrupted by his stomach giving out an irate, series of gurgles and growls that drown out the sound of his voice, causing him to flush beet red and stare in horror at his stomach. Wes looks amused. "-stuffed."

"At least the color's gone back to your face," Sakura giggles. "Albeit the greenish tint."

Ace bites back an insult and says, "Look, I know I may have hurt everyone at this school, but, I want to let you know that I'm sorry…for everything that I've done. This is a long shot, but I…ask for your forgiveness. Especially you, Rose."  
He looks deeply into Rose's chocolate eyes, pleading for an answer. Without warning, Rose pulls him into a tight hug. He could smell the Victoria's Secret perfume on her. He has a hard time fighting the blush on his face. He hugs her back. He'd forgotten how…soft she felt. When she finally pulls away, the radiant smile on her face melts away the shocked expression on his face.

Just as Rose opens her mouth to speak, someone shrills, "Stop! Get away from that monster!"

Ace whips around quickly and sees Ava and Nate charging towards them. He quickly drops his hands from Rose's waist and swallows hard. Ava must be back for revenge.

"Oh my gosh, are you really trying to hit on Rose in front of her friends?! That's sick," Nate sneers. "Especially after what you did to my Ava."

Nate grabs Ace by his white collar and sucker-punches him in the stomach. Ace doubles over and collapses as Nate starts to kick him. It takes Wes, Nishan, Sakura, and Ezra to pull him off.

"What did he do?" Rose asks.

"He made moves on me, and then threatened to expose me," Ava cries. Nate wraps his arms around her protectively.

"That…never…happened," Ace wheezes, his face a ghastly white.

"LIAR!" Nate roars as he lunges for Ace a second time. Wes manages to tackle him before he can lay a hand (or foot) on him.

"Listen, buddy. Ace is a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them," Wes explains. "He even apologized for what he did. Besides, he's going through a lot."

"I can't believe you're falling for the same act again, Wes. Like, I thought you were better than this," Ava rages. "Like, I make up the story about Ace forcing himself on other girls and you still take his side."

Nate's eyes widen. Ava quickly covers her mouth. She had just forgotten that Nate was standing right there. Even Julian looks surprised.

"Wait…this means Ace never touched you…" Nate muses. "You just had me beat him up! I can't believe this."

Nate shakes his head in disgust. "Nate, wait!" she screeches.

"Save it. We're through," he retorts. He looks at Ace, badly beaten on the ground. "Hey, dude…I didn't mean that. I misunderstood. Ace? Umm…can you move if you're alive, or even conscious?"

Ace's hand twitches. The others help him to his feet. The world swirls around him. He feels the meal he had earlier rise up in his throat.

"Ace?" Rose tries waving her hands in his face, hoping to get a response.

"Take me to the hospital," is all Ace manages to choke out before puking and losing consciousness.

* * *

Blip.

Blip.

Blip.

Blip.

Ace opens his eyes to a group of people standing around him.

A girl with blonde hair in a voluminous wavy hairstyle, accessorized with a thin gray headband, blue eyes and fair skin tone. _Mia_

A dark skinned girl with curly brown hair. _Payton_.

A boy with black hair in a fade haircut, brown eyes and tan skin tone. _Julian_.

A boy with black hair in low Mohawk hairstyle, a dimpled face, brown eyes and caramel skin tone. _Nishan_.

A girl with pink hair in a curly half-up-half-down hairstyle, accessorized with a black clip, brown eyes, and dark olive tone. _Sakura_.

A boy with brown hair in a flippy shag hairstyle, stubble, blue eyes and olive skin tone. _Wes._

A girl with brown hair in a side braid, brown eyes and tan skin tone. _Autumn_.

A boy with black hair in a cropped hairstyle, stubble, brown eyes and dark skin tone. _Ezra._

And finally, a girl with pink hair in a voluminous wavy hairstyle, accessorized with a thin gray headband, brown eyes and caramel skin tone. _Rose._

"You guys better back up a bit. I think he just woke up," a woman, probably a nurse says softly. As Ace slowly regains consciousness, he takes in the array of expressions surrounding him. Some are worried, others look guilty. Rose looks between a cross of guilty and worry. Ace looks up at her.

"Rose…" he whispers.

"Aww…" Payton coos. "He said your name!"

Rose and Ace blush at this.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me Ace," she apologizes.

"You?! I'm sorry I put you through all this," he replies. He takes a closer look at Rose's shirt. "And for puking on you."

"My shirt can always be replaced. But you can't. Ava got suspended for spreading the rumors and Nate got suspended for attacking you.," Rose informs him.

"The doctor noticed some old bruises," Nishan reads off Ace's charts, his face creased with concern. "Some are as fresh as last night."

"I knew it!" declares Wes angrily. "Someone is hurting you and you won't even tell me who!"

Ace clutches the hem of the hospital blanket, refusing to look at Wes. Under normal circumstances, he would have loved to bear out his troubles at home to Wes. But this was not normal at all.

"I thought you hated me. " Ace responds meekly.

"At some point I strongly disliked you, but I would still care if something happened to you," Wes mutters, looking at the ground. He looks up at Ace, practically begging him. "Now, _please_ tell me what's going on with you."

Ace glances around the room of mostly friendly faces and takes a deep breath.

"It started when I went home after the district meeting…"

* * *

 _No sooner had the door slammed behind him, Mr. de la Cruz started in on his son._

 _"_ _Do you know," he started. "How much of a disgrace you are?"_

 _Ace gulped. When his father started like that, he knew it would only get worse from there._

 _"_ _Yes, sir," he replied._

 _"_ _Now, the whole district knows what a failure you are," he hissed, firmly grabbing Ace by his wrists. He was almost sure bruises would show in the morning. He jerked Ace toward his room and practically tossed him on the bed. Ace's head crashed on the backboard. He went cross-eyed for a second. His father eyed him with disgust. "I feel ashamed to call you my son. If only I had Rose as my daughter. SHE'D never embarrass or disappoint this family."_

 _Before he can bite his tongue, he yelled, "Because Rose is_ **so perfect** _in your eyes! She could never do wrong! Everybody loves her! But I'd never wish for Rose to have a father like you!"_

 _Mr. de la Cruz was beyond livid. Ace almost didn't see the fist soaring towards him. He barely turned when his fist came at him at full force. Thankfully nothing broke. But his arm was sore nonetheless. Tears sprung to his eyes. He inadvertently let out a gasp and a whimper. This time he felt an assault of flying fists on his body._

 _"_ _Weak…Pathetic…Useless!" his father grunted._

 _From then on, whenever Ace screwed up on something, his father let him know. His mother sometimes intervened, but mostly ignored the violence. It got to a point where Ace was too afraid to go in the kitchen when his father was home, opting to survive on leftovers or to forgo eating for the day. His father had cut off his allowance. He stayed at school all day and cower in his room all night. Yet he could never truly escape his life, because he was Bartholomew "Ace" de la Cruz, and Bartholomew "Ace" de la Cruz never gave up. Even if he wanted to._

* * *

Wes practically looks ready to punch something, he's so furious. The others make noises of sympathy.

"I…I had no idea you went through that," Rose laments. She takes a sleeve on Ace's hospital gown and rolls it up. She gasps when she sees the mess of black, blue, and red on his arms. "Why didn't you tell anyone?!"

"Who would've listened?!" Ace shot back. "Don't you get it? I deserved being beaten up by my dad! I deserved to be treated like a criminal in this town! I even deserved having Nate punch me in the stomach and making me lose my lunch! This town would be better off without me…"

"Shut UP, Ace!" Wes interrupts him. "Stop saying that! I'm not saying you're in the right, but you don't deserve to be treated like the scum of the earth. Especially from your parents. We gotta talk to someone about this."

"NO!"

"No?"

"This stays between us for now, got it?" Ace warns everyone in the room, who nods assent. Wes looks away from the group, obviously dismayed.

"If that's your choice Ace," Rose sighs, her shoulders sagging a little. "We'll be here when you need us."

With that she leans forward and gives him a small kiss on his forehead before leaving with the rest of her friends. His face beet red, he grins wider than he has since the dreaded district meeting.


	3. Rivals to Lovers?

Ace is still smiling by the time his parents arrive at the hospital. A nurse trails behind them both. To his surprise, his parents both look worried.

"I don't understand who would think of doing such a thing to my son," says his father. "Something tells me the monster has been at it for weeks."

" _You mean_ you _, Dad?_ " Ace thinks to himself. He knew there was no way his parents could be sincere. The grin drops on his face like a hot potato.

"And the poor thing's too nervous to eat anything nowadays," his mother adds. Ace bites his lip to keep from calling out his parents for their lies. He clears his throat suddenly, alerting the three adults. His mother turns around and quickly ambushes him in a hug.

"Bartholomew, are you OK?" she sobs. She should have been an actor, with her deceitfulness. He attempts to push his mother away, but she has an iron grip on him.

"I promise we'll get to the bottom of this, son," his father says, putting a hand on his arm.

" _You mean you'll keep hurting me as long as the bruises don't show,"_ he silently fumes. The second the nurse leaves, his parents' demeanors shift almost instantly.

"What were you thinking, Bartholomew?" his mother hisses in his ear. "I suppose you want to get your father and I arrested?"

"I guarantee it will be the last thing you do," his father warns him, clutching his arm tightly. Ace winces a little, and for a second it seems as though his father wants to lash out and strike him. But he controls himself. "We're getting you out of this hospital. And don't think for a second we're letting you stay home from school. We got a call from the school saying you cut your afternoon classes."

* * *

"Did you tell them yet?" Wes asks in the hallway.

"Who?"

"The cops, man. And you're supposed to be smart," Wes snickers. Ace flushes and shakes his head. "So, that's it? You're going to let them get away with it?"

Ace flashes a weak smile and shrugs. "I'll live. I'm Ace, remember?"

Wes frowns and shakes his head. "It's days like this that make me wish I was your brother so I could smack some sense into you. Whoops. Poor choice of words."

"Don't worry about it," Ace replies. "Did…did Rose say anything about me?"

Wes breaks into a grin not unlike a cat with a belly full of mice. He knows exactly what Ace was thinking.

"I knew it. You have the hots for her," Wes teases him, poking his side.

"It's not like that at all," Ace argues defensively, turning a few shades redder. "She just seemed so worried about me, that's all. It's not like she likes me or anything."

"Maybe you can find out yourself. Here she comes," says Wes. Ace's heart skips a beat. She's coming their way, and fast. Her ample pink hair bounces with every step.

"Hey," Ace greets. Rose ambushes him with another tight hug.

"Hey, yourself. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the hospital? What happened? Are you OK?' she pelts him with a million questions until Wes explains the situation. "I see. I hope things are better for you. I wouldn't be able to look at myself if something happened to you…"

She trails off when she sees the massive blush on his face. A pinkish tint comes to her face as well. Seconds flit by without either of them saying anything. Wes rolls his eyes and walks past them, "accidentally" bumping Rose into Ace.

"Watch out," Rose cries, her arms flailing.

Rose, attempting to regain her balance, grabs onto Ace's shoulders, who in turn grabs her waist. The momentum however is too great. He swings her around. They stumble onto the floor. It takes Ace a second to comprehend that Rose is on top of him, her lips pressed to his. The students around them hoot and holler at the scene. Rose and Ace look at each other, furiously blushing as they quickly scramble off the floor.

Wes smirks at them. Of course. This was his doing. Not that he was completely mad at Wes though.

"Very funny, Wes," Rose says softly, her face tomato red. "Sorry about that, Ace. That was a completely accident."

"A _completely_ accident?" he teases, pushing back a few wayward strands on her face.

"Yeah…well, you know what I mean," she stammers."I'll see you at lunch?"

Ace swallows and nods.

* * *

"Well, looks like you're still the ladies man I knew you were, Lover Boy," Wes casually remarks with a smirk.

"You set us up, Wes."

"I wasn't expecting the lips to lips action. And the way you grabbed her waist and swung her around? Pure genius," he snickers. "Next time, try to keep your feet on the ground."

"You're never gonna let me live this down, are you?"

"Well, at least until I have a reason to blackmail you. By the way, big jock coming at you at 3 o' clock," Wes warns. He was right. Julian was charging at them, and he looked mad. Wes looks at Ace, a frown growing by the second. Wes steps in front of him. "I'll handle this."

"You can stop the fake act, Wes. He knows," Julian sneers.

"Know what?" Ace asks, confused.

"We're onto you, Bartholomew! Nishan, Sakura and I took the liberty to check out your 'story.' All lies! We didn't see a single scrap of evidence that your parents hurt you," the jock boasts.

"Evidence?! It's all over my body!" Ace retorts, rolling up his sleeves.

"I knew you went back to your wicked ways. Once a jerk, always a jerk," he rejoins. "Wait 'till I tell Rose about this."

"I already know, Julian," Rose says from behind them. Ace pales as she looks at them, putting her hands on her hips. Ace opens his mouth to defend himself, but Rose silences him. "Save it Ace. I know what I'm doing. Also, Julian, who gave you the right to invade personal space? (Apologies if I sound hypocritical) I'm not sure you know the whole story Julian. You weren't there when Ace and his parents left the district meeting. You didn't see his father practically disown his son. And…I know we were supposed to leave your room, but I saw Ace's parents. They looked so nice until the nurse walked out. He looked so…scared. So I know what I'm talking about when I say that Ace's telling the truth."

Ace's mouth swings open. She knew the truth firsthand, and now she was going to turn his parents in.

"Rose, PLEASE don't say anything to the police," he pleads, grabbing her shoulders.

"I have to," she says assertively, pulling away. "This cannot continue."

"They're too influential. They'll destroy you before you can even make a case. Besides, I only have 2 more years before I'm a legal adult. I'll live," he states passively.

"Come crash at my house for a bit," Wes offers. "We'll work something out."

Ace looks between Wes and Rose. Rose smiles and nods. Wes smirks at him.

"Fine," he relents. "But for a week tops."

Wes nods and heads off. Ace turns to follow him.

"Wait," Julian demands, putting his hand on Ace's shoulder. "I want to apologize. I shouldn't have looked through your stuff, and I should've believed you. No hard feelings?"

He holds out his hand. Ace looks up at Julian, smiles slightly, and shakes his hand. Julian pats him on the back and walks away, leaving only Ace and Rose on the park bench.

"Thanks for sticking up for me," Ace says.

"It's the least I could do," Rose says. She gazes at him, blushing. "And, well, you're not a bad kisser, even if it was by accident. The way you practically swept me off my feet was…kinda cute."

"That's the first time someone's called me cute," Ace jokes. "Most people just called me hot."

"I can see why they do," she whispers flirtatiously.

Ace chuckles. "I'm flattered, Rosie, but I think we're going too fast. We went from being partners to rivals to friends. I think I'm falling too fast for you. I saw you for the first time and I fell head over heels. Well, not completely. Even when I was trying to undermine your school, there was always a shadow of guilt."

"I get it Ace. You want to take things slow. So do I," she agrees. She notices the lowering sun. "It's getting late. I think you better head to Wes's place."

"But what about you? I don't think it's safe to go home alone nowadays."

"Ace, come on. I'm 17. I think I can handle myself. It's you I'm worried about. Looks there's Wes. Go get your stuff from your house and hang out at his place for a bit," she orders. Ace nods uncertainly. With that, she leans in to kiss him. Ace grabs her by the waist and kisses her fully on the lips. A shill wolf whistle breaks the kiss.

"WES!" they shout. The slacker never left. He was just standing there the whole time, smirking at the two.

"Extra, extra! Read all about it: 'Former Rivals Locking Lips at Park Bench!' Ooh, scandalicious! "Wes jokes. "Come on, Lover Boy. We gotta get to your house before your 'rents show up."

Ace gives Rose one last kiss on the cheek before turning to catch up with Wes.

* * *

"So, Ace, you wanted to relive your fantasy but this time you were the dominant one?" Wes teases as soon as he gets in the car. Ace scoffs and rolls his eyes.

"She looked at me and leaned in to kiss me…I guess my hormones took over," Ace sheepishly admits as Wes whoops.

"I'm glad I stopped you when I did, otherwise, you'd be stuck with her for 18 years," kids Wes, causing his friend to smack him in the back of his head. "Hey, not when I'm driving!"

"Don't make fun of my hormones," says Ace, mocking embarrassment. "They're sensitive!"

The two male teens laugh the whole way to Ace's house. Ace quietly unlocks the door and creeps inside, Wes following suit. They open the door to Ace's room.

"Damn…your room is so…big. Also looks like a tornado hit his place," Wes comments. Ace winces and looks away. "Whoops…poor choice of words again."

Ace grabs a few things in his room. Blankets. Pillows. Cell Phone. Laptop. Remains of his allowance ($300).

"I think that's everything," Ace comments. He stuffs the items in Wes's duffel bag and hauls it over his shoulder. I could have sworn he saw Wes shuffling something. But he dismisses it.

They toss the duffel bag in the trunk of Wes's car and drive off just as Mr. de la Cruz's car drives up.


	4. Failed Escape

"That was my DAD, Wes! Step on it!" Ace orders, his hands clutching to the armrest like a lifeline. Wes pounds his foot on the gas pump and they charge out of the area. One thing to note: When under pressure, Wes drives like a maniac. The car swerves in and out of lanes, side sweeping trash cans left and right. Screams and swears fill the air like the smell of burning rubber.

"I think we lost him," Wes wheezes as he brings the car to a sudden stop. Both teens are jerked forward and hit the front of the car, trying to process what just happened. Wes looks around and whistles at the damage. "I think I might have broken Koh's record."

Ace sits still, frozen in shock. "That…was…amazing! Mom and Dad _never_ let me joyride in a car like that!"

"Uh oh," he jests, rolling his eyes. "I've made a rebel out of you. Next thing you know, you're in leather covered in piercings and tattoos!"

Ace lightly punches him in the ribs. Something vibrates in Ace's bag. He pulls out his phone and sees that Rose has sent him a text.

 **RadiantRose: shane saw u & wes riding crazily from ur house. U ok?**

Ace chuckles. Shane was the same guy who called him "Tall, Dark and Evil." Why would he be around his area? Ace starts texting a reply when his cell phone rang. The tone was ever too familiar.

 _You watch me bleed until I can't breathe_

 _Shaking, falling onto my knees_

 _And now that I'm without your kisses_

 _I'll be needing stitches_

Wes glances at the caller ID. "Don't answer it. He'll just be able to trace it and find you."

 **AceofSpace: Yeah. And have you considered using better grammar when you text people?**

 **RadiantRose: Vry funny, ace. U wes's place yet?**

Ace looks up; Wes had gotten out of the car and was now fumbling with his keys.

 **AceofSpace: Yep. We're going inside now.**

 **RadiantRose: Kk. CYL. XOXOXOXO**

The cheesy text makes him blush a little. It felt really good to know someone still looks out for him. Ace puts his phone in his pocket, gets his duffel bag from the back of the car and heads inside. He sees his father has left him a voicemail. Against Wes's wishes, he listens to the message.

 _"_ _Bartholomew, Bartholomew, Bartholomew. Or should I say_ Ace. _Did you really think I wouldn't notice your absence when I got home? I know exactly what's missing and I have the power to find where you are. If you aren't home tomorrow evening, I swear, when I get my hands on you, I'm gonna –"_

Wes snatches the phone out of his shaking hands and ends the voicemail.

"I told you not to answer that," Wes scolds, jamming the phone in his pocket. "Now he's got you all scared again. Hold up, let me block the number."

"I didn't answer, I just listened to the voicemail," Ace admits defensively. He reaches for the phone, but Wes holds it back from him. "Hey! What gives?"

"Sorry Ace, but I can't risk your dad finding you here. In fact, this stays between you, me, and the gang," he says. "We can replace this with a different phone, so he can't track you. Nishan and Sakura are quite talented in that field. I'm surprised they didn't go to Kepler."

Ace's cell phone rings again. Wes looks at the caller ID, and then answers himself.

"No, Rosie, this isn't your lover boy, Ace," he greets with a smirk as Ace tries to lunge for the phone. Wes shrugs him off and walks into another room, locking the door behind him. Frustrated, Ace plops on the couch with his arms crossed and eyes closed. A dark voice begins to enter his head.

" **Do you really think Wes is your friend?** " the voice asks maniacally. " **For all you know, he's just making moves on Rose on the phone.** "

He grimaces. This was the same voice he heard when he lost the Hamilton internship. The same one that told him to ruin Rose's school. No way in hell was he going back that route. He rubs his temples and tries to run the voice out of his mind. Besides, Rose wouldn't betray him…would she?

* * *

"Yeah, yeah he's in good hands…we might need to burn this phone so he can't find it…I know a guy…Well, here's the thing…You and Ace _cannot_ be seen together at school…His dad would probably go to you first, so it's important that he's in the dark about your whereabouts…" Wes continues into the phone. Ace presses against the door, straining to hear him, but he gasps when he realizes that Rose could potentially be in danger because of him. Wes turns the lock on the door and he hurries back to the couch.

"So, what happened?" he nonchalantly asks.

"Your dad saw my car leave the house. I don't think he saw my license plate, but he might have seen me. A couple of detectives are on their way," he informs with a grim smile. "This just got a little more complicated. Hmm…Give me your jacket."

"What?" Wes doesn't wait for Ace to reply before he takes it, writes a note and stuffs it into one of the pockets.

"This is a bit crazy, mind you, but maybe we can trick your dad into thinking you left the state. Probably the country. They'll go follow 'you' there and buy us some time to think of something else."

Ace just stares at him with wide eyes. "Wow. You really are crazy. Once my dad finds out where I really am, it's game over for me. Not to mention, the police will find yours and Rose's prints on my jacket. I'm sorry, but I can't let either or you take the fall for me. Maybe I should just go home and face the music."

Wes smirks. "I think Rose is starting to rub off on you."

"Goodbye, Wes."

"I will come and find you Ace. The only person you're hurting is yourself."

"Better me than you."

"Damn it, Ace!"

* * *

Ace briskly walks out the door into the cool night. Perhaps if he hurried he would get home to the safety of his room before his father got a hold of him. His breathe come out in short bursts. His heart pounds with fear. The second he steps foot on his property, a light shines brightly on him.

A couple of burly men grab him and escort him into the house, where his father is waiting, sitting patiently on a chair. They leave the teen and his father face to face in the living room.

"Your mother is out of the house for a few weeks," Mr. de la Cruz informs him with an eerie sense of calmness. "I didn't want her to hear this, but I'm telling you now."

"T-tell me what?" Ace asks as his father rises from his seat and holds up a picture. Ace pales when he sees it. It's a picture of him and Rose, red-faced, just moments after Wes catches them in the act.

"It seems you've developed feelings for this girl. Not that I blame you. She's absolutely perfect," he says.

"Please leave her out of this, dad," Ace begs, his voice shaking. "She knows nothing."

"Oh, I won't lay a hand on her. But mark my words Bartholomew. If I catch wind of any collusion, you'll never see her again," he warns. "Am I clear?"

"Yes,"

"Yes, what?"

"Yes… _sir_."

"Good. Now about your attempt to run away…"

* * *

The gang is all over him when he shows up to school the next morning on the park bench.

"Wes told us what happened. Why did you go home?" Nishan asks, surveying the damage. Ace gained several more bruises on his arms and torso. Thankfully, his red sweater covered up most of the violence. "If this keeps up, you'll be better off dead!"

"Nishan!" Autumn scolds. "Not helping."

"I thought he was going to hurt Rose and Wes. I mean, you've seen what I'm capable of," he admits. Looking around, he notices that Rose is not among them in the group. He swallows hard. "Where's Rose?"

The others shift uncomfortably. In the background, a blur of pink hair dashes into the school corridor.

"That's her!" Ace exclaims, pushing past the others.

"Ace, stop," Wes orders, attempting to reach for his sleeve. Ace, however, is too fast for him and rushes into the main hallway. He sees Rose at her locker, forlorn. He gently taps her shoulder. She looks up, tears streaming down her face. She jerks her arm away from him.

"Rose? What's wrong?"

With a shaky voice, she sniffs, "Never speak to me again."


	5. Deception

**(A/N So I had difficulty uploading this chapter, fan fiction admin thinks I'm a spammer lol. )**

He freezes. Rose's face resembles a mix of devastated and livid.

"Wait, what did I do?" he asks in confusion.

"What do you mean?! Everyone was right about you, Ace. You can't be trusted," she states coldly. "I stood up for you and yet again, you stab me in the back?"

"Rose, I don't understand. What happened in the hours between when I last saw you and now?"

"You restarted New Start. Some of the wallflowers caught wind of it," she accuses. "After Wes called be to tell me you were at his house, I received an onslaught of hateful messages from students. They even made up a website to make fun of me and telling me how stupid I was to admit you into the school. Guess who the admin was?"

His mouth goes dry. He has a wild guess of who did this. Who really wanted to set him up. He can't say a word though. Rose is too upset to listen. She storms off in tears, muttering that she hates him. Ace has no choice but to sigh and walk to class. Whispers circulate around the hallway as he trudges into the classroom. Wes notices the dejected look on his face and shakes his head. A note lands on his desk.

 _I doubt Rose would forgive you after betraying her not once, but TWICE, Ace. Maybe we'll get you expelled from this school and shipped to that boarding school you hated. Of course, hurting a stranger is one thing. Hurting someone who cared about you…that's just cruel. And don't even think about trying to weasel your way out of this one._

He grips his pen up to forcefully write a scathing response.

 **I don't know who you are or why you want me out of the school so badly, but I will not be shaken. I've changed my ways. I wouldn't hurt Rose by losing the trust I've graveled so much to earn. I** **LOVE** **her. That's right, I said it. I love her. Thanks for screwing that up.**

After spewing out his feelings, Ace crumbles up the note and angrily throws it in the trash. Someone snickers in the background. He cranes his neck to take a look. Ava and some of her friends are all sneering at him. He was raised to never strike a woman, but he had the incredible urge to take a locker to their airy little heads. He tries to ignore them until after class, but they trail him.

"Leave me alone, Ava," he whispers. "Call off your dogs."

"I don't have to do anything you say, Ace. One strike against you's enough to get you kicked out," she brags. "You can't sweet-talk your way out of this."

"Maybe I don't want to sweet talk my way out of this. I want to make things right with Rose, and because you can't seem to let go of the past, that can't happen," he seethes, waving them off. The crowd around Ava yells jeers and insults at him. By the time lunch comes, he sits alone, like he used to, with mountains of paperwork to do. Only this time, no Rose comes around to invite him to lunch. He goes home and tries to avoid screwing up so he doesn't have to face his father. This goes on for several weeks, as Ace becomes paler and more stoic. By Monday morning, he is practically a work zombie.

One day, he goes home alone, ignoring the jests and comments of the other students. No one went out of their way to talk to him. They preferred talking about him. His phone buzzes. It's a text from Wes.

 **WildWes** : **get to my house ASAP**

 **AceofSpace: Why? To tell my how much of a monster I am for betraying Rose!? I'm innocent, this time! I swear!**

 **WildWes: i know, so get here now**

 **AceofSpace: No, Wes. I'm going home.**

 **WildWes: i know where u live, dont try me bart**

 **AceofSpace: Ugh, fine. And don't call me Bart.**

 **WildWes: :D**

He decides to change routes and head to Wes's house. He opens the door, greeted by Wes, Nishan and Payton.

"Well, looks who decided to show up," says Wes with a trademark smirk. "And here I thought I was going to have to send Julian to come get you."

"Nice to see you again, Wes," Ace grumbles, his patience already wearing thin. "Look, I really don't feel like talking to anyone right now, so can you make this quick so I can go home?"

"And get thrown around like a ragdoll? Which is really saying something, considering you look like one," the slacker remarks.

"Drop dead, Wes," he spits with more venom than he expected. "I'm already dead inside, anyway."

"Aww…is this because Rose got mad at you over the New Start faction?" Payton inquires sadly.

"I didn't do it!" he snaps. "I'm a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them. It's one thing to hurt a stranger…but another to do something to hurt a friend."

"We know," Nishan answers. "That's why Wes texted you. I managed to trace the website's origin to the source. The owner made a mistake by writing Ace _in_ Space instead of AceofSpace. That's how we knew for sure it was a fake. Convincing Rose was the hardest part. She wants to hear it from you."

Ace crossly folds his arms across his chest, and retorts, "Why now? Why not before my rep took yet another major dive?"

"Because she's right behind us," Payton replies. They move out of the way to reveal Rose, _his_ Rose, sitting on the couch. Ace feels a sharp coldness spread through his body rather than comforting warmth. He greets her small smile with a grim frown.

Rose clearly has a hard time finding the words to say after she takes in Ace's appearance. His eyes have dark circles surrounding them and his cheekbones jut out from his face.

"Gee…um…you look different," she murmurs.

He scoffs, "Glad you noticed."

"I heard about what happened with New Start. I'm really sorry I thought you were behind it," she apologizes. "I guess I was still tense from what happened with the council."

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to forgive her so easily. Seeing her cry, her being angry with him, seeing Ava and her posse taunt him about it, on top of everything else in his life… simply broke him. His frown remains set on his face. The others can sense this conversation is going downhill fast.

"Hey, now that we're all here, how 'bout some party games?" Payton offers, bringing in a bottle and a stack of cards. "This mix of Spin the Bottle and Truth or Dare was pretty fun with my old friends."

Payton spins the bottle. It lands squarely on Ezra.

"Truth," he answers firmly. "I have no secrets."

Payton picks up a card and reads, "What is your guilty pleasure."

Ezra smiles goofily and says, "Those red velvet cupcakes he had in our name had me going for weeks."

The bottle spins again and lands on Autumn.

"Do an impression of someone and keep doing it until we can guess who you are."

Autumn mimes holding something and throwing it in the air, then doing a victory dance.

"Hey," Julian laughs. "That's me! But I don't dance like that."

It's Wes's turn.

"Truth."

"Top or bottom?"

For the first time in like, forever, Wes flushes. He clears his throat and says, "Huh?''

"Dom or Sub?"

"That's a really interesting question, for which I have an interesting answer. I'll take a dare please," he coughs.

"Ok, you must do a karaoke with Julian to the song we choose," Payton answer. Wes shrugs, trying not to look nervous as the girls scroll through a list of songs. They finally choose the song, "Troublemaker,"

Everyone but Ace is in tears as Julian and Wes perform their rendition of the song.

"Baby I'm insane," Julian sings.

" 'Cause I keep doing the same damn thing," Wes cuts in.

"Thinking one day we gonna change,"

"But you just know how to work that back to make me forget my name,"

"What the hell you do I won't remember,"

"I'll be gone until November,"

"And don't show up again next summer!"

Julian and Wes chuckle as they finish their song good-naturedly.

Next, the bottle lands on Rose. She chooses dare. Wes and Payton look at each other knowingly.

"Rose, your dare…is to kiss Ace!"

"For 15 seconds," Wes adds. Ace shoots him a glare. He recognizes the same pinkish tint to Rose's cocoa skin. His heart rate didn't increase; it simply maintained its common beat. He thinks back to when Ava and her friends taunted him with that note and he profusely confessed that he was in love with her. He heavily regrets writing it.

"Um…it doesn't look like Ace wants that," she notes. "Maybe just a hug?"

Ace sighs and nods. Rose wraps her arms around him and pulls him close. He remains still and stiff. When Rose pulls away, her face darkens at his expression. He wasn't smiling, or even blushing. He simply straightens his sweater and strides out of the house.

"Follow him," he hears someone inside whisper not-so-quietly. He picks up the pace, making his way towards the highway. He hoists himself over the rail separating the road from the forest and takes off. When he thinks he's finally alone he sinks against a tree and folds his arms across his chest. A twig snaps, causing him to jump and turn around.

"Why are you still following me, Rose?" he snaps.

"We need to talk," she states firmly.

"No, you need to leave. I don't want to talk," he mutters dully.

"I said I was sorry-"

"So did I! But the past can't be forgiven so easily, now can it?" he interrupts, his hands baling into fists. "I know I have a lot to work for, so why did you honestly think I would easily screw that up again?"

"You should've seen the things people where writing about me. Some of them even wanted _me_ expelled from the school _I_ made happen," argues, her voice breaking a little. "And I felt really hurt when I thought you did it. After all this time, you confessed that you had feelings for me and I was starting to reciprocate them…it really messed me up."

"Well, you're right about one thing. I _did_ have feelings for you," he firmly states. "Now, I'm not too sure."

He tries to get up and leave, but his pant leg gets caught in a snag, causing both him and Rose to tumble over deeper into the forest.


	6. Rescue Mission

**WildWes: ace i know u have ur phone w/ u. answer me!**

 **WildWes: come on this isnt funny. did rose find u?**

 **WildWes: ace? where r u? wheres rose?**

 **WildWes: im worried now. Plz don't tell me u offed urself…** **L**

 **WildWes: rose if u have his phone** **do something** **! dont let him jump!**

The constant vibrations from the cell phone bring him back out of his stunned state. The fall took the wind out of him, so he lay there, struggling for air. He manages to grab the phone from his pocket and scroll through the messages. Wes sent several messages, getting more desperate each time. His inhaled sharply when he saw the message about him committing suicide. He slowly turns on his side and sees Rose on the ground, unconscious. The cuts all over her face and arms look like little red vines decorating her skin.

" _She really does look like a rose_ ," he thinks. He looks back to Wes's text and struggles to write a reply.

 **AceofSpace: I'm fine, Wes. I'm just a little winded. Rose is here, but she's unconscious. We fell in the forest.**

 **WildWes: what happened?**

 **AceofSpace: I just told you.**

 **WildWes: do u know where u r?**

He looks up, but the trees and clouds swirl around him. On the ground, Rose is a blurred pink streak. He sits up and immediately feels a stabbing pain in his stomach, almost as if it were knotting.

 **AceofSpace: No. The ground is spinning and my stomach hurts.**

 **WildWes: U said u were ok!**

 **AceofSpace: Well, now I'm not.**

 **WildWes: im calling the hospital**

A quick panic wave washes over him. He knew he couldn't go to the hospital. They'd check him, they'd see the bruises. They'd call his parents and then the police. It would all go downhill from there. He tries rubbing his stomach to appease the quick attacks of pain.

 **AceofSpace: Calm down, Wes. It's just a little belly painnnnnNNNnnnnnn.**

He groans and accidentally sends the message. This could be any sort of issues. Maybe he was punctured with a stick. Or perhaps he was suffering from food poisoning. Hunger? Indigestion? Gastric distress?

 **WildWes: that doesnt seem like a little pain. U could die if u dont get help**

 **AceofSpace: Doesn't matter anyway. I… I think I'm done.**

 **WildWes: hang on, im calling you. i swear if you don't pick up im calling the cops.**

"Ace?" Wes, voice sounded hoarse, as if he'd been crying.

"Yeah?"

"Don't hang up," he whispers. "We're going to find you. Stay on the line so I know you're still here."

"Ok," he agrees. Rose moans and rises from her spot on the ground. "I think Rose is waking up."

She opens her hazel eyes slowly and looks up at Ace. She frowns at seeing him in pain.

"Who's on the phone?" she winces. "Is it Wes?"

Ace nods and hands her the phone. Rose puts it on speaker so they both can hear.

"Rose, you guys have been gone for hours. Do you remember where you are?" Wes asks, his voice losing more and more of its edge.

"I remember running along the highway of Route 55 before cutting into the forest," she recalls.

Wes sighs in relief. "Good. We'll be there to get you. And Rose? Make sure Ace doesn't try to hurt himself. Got it?"

"Yes, but I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon…"

"Yeah, something's wrong with his stomach."

"I'm right here!" Ace interrupts, clutching his midsection. He feels a lurch and hurries to a secluded are to empty his guts. Still groaning, he stalks back to where he left Rose and collapses.

"He's alright ?" Wes inquires, suspicious of the noise. Rose feels his forehead.

"He's burning up. I'm sorry Ace, but we have to call a hospital," she says.

"No hospitals. Please," he insists. He thinks for a moment "Ok fine. If at any point I STOP BREATHING, we go to the hospital."

"If you're unconscious we're definitely going to the hospital," Rose answers him.

"Fine."

"Y'know, Ace. In everything that's happened, I'm really sorry for not trusting you. I mean, it's hard enough having no one think your trustworthy anymore, and your dad making life even harder for you. I really wish I'd taken that into consideration before accusing you," Rose confesses. Ace looks up into her eyes and sees she's being completely truthful. "I was kinda being a brat."

"I don't completely blame you, either. I did use New Start to frame you the first time," he admits. "I hope we don't make the same mistakes again."

"Well, lightning never strikes twice in the same place," she comments wistfully. "What did happen to you after you left Wes's house that night?"

He frowns and looks away. His breath catches in his throat.

"He had a picture of you and me together," he begins. "I thought he was going to hurt you. He wasn't, he told me if he ever caught you and me plotting to report him or run away, I'd never see you again. Then I really got it good for trying to run away from home. Every time he landed a punch or smack he told me I was a failure. That I was worthless. But what really stung…was when he told me I wasn't good enough for you."

"That could never be true, Ace," she states firmly. "I like you."

His cold exterior cracks as he smiles a little. "I like you too."

Relief floods her faces almost immediately. "Well, all I can say is, if I die here tonight-"

"-which you won't-"

"-there wouldn't be a better way to go. Outside, nice nightly weather, and looking up at you, instead of at home alone, in a stuffy room filled with mountains of paperwork. Oof!" Ace blinks as something wet drips on his cheek, glides across his chin and slides down his neck. "Are you…crying?"

"Just don't say you're gonna die, Ace. It worries me," she sniffs. "Even if I hated you, I'd still somewhat care if something bad happened to you."

 **WildWes: hey lovebirds, get on w/ it & make out. Im getting bored w/ this cliché romance stuff.**

 **RadiantRose: screw you wes! 0_o**

 **WildWes: wouldn't you rather screw yur bf? ; )**

 **RadiantRose: WES! :(**

 **AceofSpace: Wow, that was incredibly inappropriate. And I thought you weren't supposed to text while driving.**

 **WildWes: nope, julian's typing what I speak. We're almost there. Status report on Lover Boy?**

 **RadiantRose: Still pale and shaky, but otherwise is fine.**

 **PreppyPartyCentral: Oooh! I bet you could bring color back to his cheeks if you know what I mean… ; )**

 **AceOfSpace: AAAAGH! We are not, I repeat,** ** _not_** **making love on this forest floor in the middle of nowhere!**

His response is met with whoops and hollers of laughter in the background. Although they were texting, Wes was technically still on the phone. Flushing madly, he sends a sarcastic reply.

 **AceofSpace: Well, you got your wish. My cheeks are burning.**

"Which ones?" Someone in the background jokes, earning a laugh from everyone else. Ace can only assume it was Julian.

"We'll call back later, Wes," Rose says quickly as she ends the call. "And I thought they only got this wild at Payton's parties."


	7. Rescue Mission Part 2

At last, a car headlight shines on the forest and the all too familiar honk of Wes' car horn beeps loudly. Several people step out, armed with flashlights, scanning the area.

"Snap if you guys can hear me," Nishan orders.

*Snap!*

"This way! I think they went down a ditch or something," Sakura yells as the others follow her lead. She shines a light in the two teens at the bottom. "Looks pretty steep down there…"

"Maybe I can use my cleats to get down there," Julian offers.

"And then how would you manage to get yourself, Ace AND Rose to the top safely?" Sakura snaps.

"Chill out, I was making a suggestion, gamer girl. Not my fault class presidents and preps don't know how to dress," the football player scoffs.

( **A/N: In High School Story, Ace is a Class President type and Rose is a Prep)**

"And what's that supposed to mean, Julian?" Payton fumes. "At least _I_ dress for success. You dress like a mess."

Rose rolls her eyes at the bickering bunch. Here they were, stuck in a steep-sloped ditch, and their friends were arguing about fashion. Wes quickly tells the group to shut up and focus.

"In case you guys have forgotten, this is a life or death situation. Every minute we waste is less time we have to save them," he scolds, deviant from his usual laid-back demeanor. "Now, unless someone has a piece of rope we can use, we'll have to do a human chain. Nishan, use your nerd powers or something to organize us."

"Obviously Julian has the most BMI, so he should be the anchor," Nishan begins. "Mia, as the one with the least BMI, should be the hook. In between them should be everyone in this order, from lightest to heaviest: Payton, Autumn, me, Ezra, Wes."

Julian digs his heels into the ground and lifts Wes by the ankles, who does the same to Ezra, who does the same to Nishan. Nishan connects to Autumn and Autumn connects to Payton. Payton attaches herself to Mia, and the group slowly lowers her into the ditch.

"Eww…gross…ick…yuck…" Mia moans. "My uniform's gonna need a major wash after this.

"Speak for yourself, Mia," Payton frowns, looking at her purple dress. Rose reaches up to cling to Mia's arms.

"Now pull, Julian," Wes orders. With a grunt, he hauls Rose out of the ditch. They all fall in a heap.

"Thanks, guys," she wheezes. "Ready, Ace?"

"Ready…" he puffs. Mia winces and rubs her arms.

"I dunno, my arms are kinda sore from pulling Rose up," she complains.'

"I'll take over for you, Mia," Rose offers. She giggles a little. "Even if I am a bit chunkier than you are."

"Admit it Rose, you can't resist my tiny pigs in a blanket," Payton teases as she latches on to Rose's ankles and lowers her into the ditch.

"Almost…there," she pants, touching the tips of Ace's fingers. "A little lower now…"

Rose finally manages to get a secure grip on his wrists. The sleeves on his sweater sag downwards, displaying his recent bruises against his tanned skin. The others give grunts and moans of sympathy as they pull him up. Julian loses his footing and everyone tumbles to the ground again.

*smooch!*

"Oh God, not again," Rose giggles.

"We…we kissed again didn't we?" Ace asks, hot blood filling his pale countenance.

"Heh, can't say I'm disappointed," she says shyly reddening as well.

"Guys, make out later! Wes started the car already, and we need to roll. Someone called the cops about Ace's disappearance," Sakura shouts. "And guess what? Someone was also tapping our phones! They know where we are!"

"Ava."

"What, Ace?"

"It's Ava. She must have done this," he states coldly. "After her attempt to frame me failed twice, she must have taken extreme measures. In these past few weeks, I always got the feeling I was being followed, and school either Ava or her lackeys flanked me. I may have left my phone unattended for brief periods at a time."

"So…she knows?" Sakura seems almost afraid to ask the question.

With a shaky breath, he answers, "Yes…"

"Ok, we _really_ have to get out of here now. You look like you either want to faint or throw up, Ace," Sakura observes.

"There's a strong probability of both occurring simultaneously," he groans. Rose and Sakura help him to his feet and they stagger to Wes's already full car.

"Looks like we have to double up on seats. Probably some people have to sit on others' laps," Wes says, winking at the new arrivals.

"If I…wasn't so…spent," Ace rasps. "I'd…I'd…smack you upside the head…for that comment."

They settle into the seats. Payton with Ezra, Autumn with Julian, Sakura with Nishan (only because she had no choice, she says), and Rose with Ace. Wes pounds on the gas and they speed off.

"Now, when we get there, we're going to explain to your father that we were at a party and someone spiked your drink," Wes explains.

"What?! It's…one thing to be…at an unsupervised party… without my dad's permission… but to get drugged? He'll…he'll kill me," Ace tiredly argues. "What about this…this is a…study…group…and…"  
"You thought you were suffering from a bout of food poisoning so you tried to sleep it off," Nishan answers. "When the pain in your stomach got worse we decided to go the hospital."

"And how are we going to explain the bruises on his body?" Rose asks. "They'll either link it to Mr. Cruz or to one of us!"

"Roughhousing gone wrong?"Julian suggests.

"No, Ace doesn't roughhouse," Nishan negates the idea.

"But, we could say that someone at school beat him up," Wes says. "He does have a lot of enemies."

"Not…helping, Wes," Ace scolds.

"Save your breath," Wes says dismissively, removing one of his hands at the wheel to wave it in the air. "By the same logic, there might be kids from Hearst, Statton, Athena, or even Kepler that have it out for you. Give or take, the investigation (assuming there will be one) will buy some more time. Why don't you want to turn your dad in, though? And don't give me that 'no snitching' BS. That doesn't apply when your life's in danger."

"Look, I don't know…Wes…I spent my…whole life…trying to make…him happy…if he went to jail… he'd be back afterwards to remind me… what a failure I was…I can't escape," he mumbles in broken sentences. "Gosh…I think this pain's getting worse…"

Another surge of pain sears though him, causing him to bite his lip to avoid screaming. A wince does escape him. Wes's car defies the speed limit, wailing toward the hospital.

"You'll be fine," Rose assures him, wrapping her arms around him protectively. In spite of his intense ache, her soothing touch calms him a little. He'd smile if his stomach hurting didn't contort his face into a grimace.

"We're here," Wes says quickly, slamming on the breaks and stopping the car. One of you make sure the car isn't in a tow-away zone. The rest of you help me get Lover Boy in the hospital."

Sakura volunteers, citing her experience with driving games. In the hospital, Mia talks to the receptionist while they set Ace on a chair. People around them stare and whisper, but at this point, he could care less.

"That boy over there could keel over at any given moment. Do you really want an impromptu visit to the ICU on your hands?" Mia demands. The receptionist hurriedly finds an open room and escorts the gang. The nurse hooks him up on an IV and leaves the room before the others start piling in.

"Are they gonna call my dad?" he whispers, sweat beading his forehead.

"Afraid so. He's listed in your emergency contact list, and none of us are over 17,"Ezra comments.

"Hey, on the bright side, he can't try anything is we're nearby with you," Payton says. "And we'll just explain what happened…we were studying and you had severe stomach pains."

"And prior to that, someone came at you with a vengeance, but you have no clue who did it," Wes continues. "Even though I have no idea why you're defending him like this."

The doctor walks in and explains the diagnosis. He was suffering from severe food poisoning.

"The results show that someone may have tempered with your friend's food," the doctor explains. "Not to mention the ghastly number of bruises we found on his body."

"We think it might be from a jealous classmate," Nishan explains before Ace can say anything.

"Well, maybe you can explain to your father, he should be here any minute now. I think it's time you let Bartholomew-"

"Ace,"

"Yeah, let _Ace_ get some rest," the doctor continues. One by one they file out the door. Wes nudges Rose and whispers to her. She nods and stays in the room after the doctor has left.

"Guess we won't be seeing you at school for a few days," Rose says wistfully.

"At least I'll get some time to recover," he says, trying to put on an air of optimism. "Then I'll be back and better than ever."

He wraps his arms around her and hers around him, blushing slightly. He presses his lips on hers, never wanting to let go. A suddenly throat clearing causes them to jump apart.

"Am I interrupting something Bartholomew?"


	8. Mission Impossible: Shutdown

"D-dad?!" the two quickly break out of their embrace, and face the man standing in front of them. "I didn't see you walk in!"

"You seemed… _occupied_ at the moment," his father states without any emotion.

"Yeah," he says shakily. He sharply inhales "I guess you've already met Rose."

"I'm not stupid, Bartholomew. Too bad I can't say the same about you," he sneers patronizingly.

"I know," Ace submissively relents. "Rose's just here with me because…I got food poisoning."

"He also told me someone beat him up," Rose says, going along with the plan. Probably one of his enemies."

"I'd have enemies if I let a lot of people down too," his father briskly scoffs. Ace felt like screaming. Here was his father, berating him in front of a friend. "Rose, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak with my son alone."

Rose opens her mouth to protest, but leaves, casting a pitiful glance in Ace's direction. Sure enough, as soon as the door closed behind her, Mr. Cruz's demeanor shifts south almost immediately.

"I didn't tell her anything, I swear," Ace blurts out immediately. "She knows nothing!"

"It better stay that way, Bartholomew," his father warns, gripping his arm tightly. There was sure to be another bruise in the morning. "And where were you in the past 7 hours?"

"At a study group," Ace chokes, hoping he can't see through his lie. "I felt really sick, so we had to go to the hospital."

"And you told the doctor how you got those bruises?"

"Vengeful rival," he mutters, repeating the story he and the others fabricated in the car. "P-please let go of my arm. Y-you're hurting me."

Mr. Cruz releases his arm with a grimace. "Simply pathetic. You'll never make it in this world if you have to beg for the things you want."

Thankfully, his father let him stay home from school (provided he could still get his work done) for a few days. He was grateful for the break. It gave him time for his bruises to fade away and bring some more flesh onto his bones.

His phone buzzes with relentless texts from Wes, Rose, some even from Payton.

 **WildWes: man its quiet when ur not here**

 **RadiantRose: Hey, hope things are better for you now. CYL!**

 **PreppyPartyCentral: im throwing a food poisoning recovery party 2morrow 6 pm!**

The last text makes him laugh out loud. A food poisoning recovery party? Surely Wes was going to have to drag him out of the house for him to go, even to the point of kidnapping. It's strange thought, how without saying a single word about it, Wes had already forgiven him. Was it out of pity? Pure Goodness? Ha! All he could say was that he was glad it was water under the bridge. Too bad he couldn't say that about Ava and the rest of the student body. He makes a mental note to confront Ava once and for all.

His dad's ringtone snaps him out of his train of thought. Warily, he picks up the phone.

"Hello, dad," he greets dully.

"I assume, you're hard at work and not goofing off?" his father demands, without as much as a proper greeting. He sighs. He was lucky not to face an insult from him.

"Yes, dad," he responds. "I'm being very productive."

He was actually scrolling through the internet at that time, but Mr. Cruz doesn't have to know that, right? He opens up the New Start website, surprised it hadn't been taken down yet. He frowns at the comments people posted. There were some about him, and some about Rose. Even some about their, *ahem*, relationship.

 **FandomContributor103: Man, Rose is really getting soft. And I'm not just talking about the growing pudginess on her body. What was she thinking, letting a guy like Ace into this school? That's just like bringing Max Warren here! #RoseFail**

 **FandomContibutor65: Saw them kiss in the hallway a few weeks ago…Ewww. Ace must be seducing her.**

 **FandomContributor39: Let's start a petition to get them both kicked out of school. Like if you agree. (73 likes)**

 **FandomContributor97: I bet Rose is just using him to break him enough to make him dropout. #smart**

 **FandomContributor50: Ace, if you're reading this, I want you to know that I hope you get everything you deserve and that you die a horrible death. I'll help.**

The commenter also has several images of weaponry and dangerous chemicals. He continues scrolling, his hands shaking with every post. By the 30th post, his face is nearly gray with anxiety.

"A lot of cruel people in the school aren't there?" Wes nonchalantly asks, startling the heck out of Ace. Ace whips around, fountain pen wielded as a weapon in front of Wes. When he sees who it really is, he drops the pen and scowls at the intruder.

"Wes, what have I told you about breaking in to my house and scaring me like that?" he scolds.

"And what have I told you about indulging yourself in the hate?" Wes retorts, shoving Ace aside and looking at the screen. "I told you this stuff's going to mess you up badly. Not to mention, it's mostly freshmen and sophomores writing this stuff."

"A freshman threatened to KILL me!" Ace cries indignantly. "What if they are actually planning to act on their word?"

"And you, sir, are 16½ years old as a junior. In one and a half years, you can sue their little butts and live happily ever after with Rose at Harvard or Yale or some fancy school," Wes explains. "Until then, keep your head. You can go talk to the principal about the death threats and she'll take care of it."

"Fine. But can you go and leave me alone so I can finish some proposal negotiations?" he sighs. Wes shrugs and drops out the apparently open window he came out of. "Wes, we have stairs for a reason."

Ace corners Ava at her locker at school the next day.

"This has to stop, Ava. You've gone too far," he says firmly. Ava turns around with a smirk.

"What, ever could you mean, Ace?" she asks, feigning ignorance.

"The website! The stalking! The spying and ratting me out to my dad!" he seethes. "People are making death threats against me. I think that's a little harsh, even for me."

"I have no control over what those kids say or do. I just gave them a big push. OK, not that big, since most people hate you anyway," she sneers. "And now you're making it worse. It's really strange how the people you hurt the most band the closest to you."

"Give me a break. I'd jump off the Empire State building to show how sorry I am, if that's what it takes," he groans.

With a voice as cool as ice, she hisses, "Then do it."

"Screw you, Ava…" he murmurs, storming off.

As he leaves Ava calls out, "Don't forget to do a flip!"

On his way to his locker he runs into a wallflower.

"The look on your face told me you just ran into Ava," she comments. "She's, like the worst in this school. And this is supposed to be an accepting community. Please. The only thing Ava accepts is glory."

"I assume you've seen the website she put up," he says.

"I see a lot of things. A lot of students may not like you, but they agree that what Ava is doing is way out of line. She's a social justice warrior. I despise SJWs," she grumbles. "You look like you could use some help."

"Is this a prank to trick me?" he demands.

"Nope. Call Payton if you don't believe me," she assures. "It's going down at her party tonight. She said something about a 'Food Poisoning Recovery' party. Heh, Payton finds a theme for everything. A group of my friends are going to meet there. You're coming?"

"I was going to stay home tonight, but if it means getting the thorn out of my side, I'll do it.

"Cool. You're ok, for a jerk," she smiles with a trace of snark.

"Thank you," he breathes in relief. Tonight, he thinks, Ava's little game is over.


	9. The Party Starts

Ace heads over to Payton's party, keeping his guard up. The last thing he wanted was the students who he'd managed to gain trust from to suddenly turn on him. He's also worried that he might run into Ava at the party. Now that Payton was at this school, her parties were inclusive. Virtually anyone was invited. With Rose by his side, he feels it would be alright.

"Hey, a party in your honor. You must feel very special?" Rose teases him.

He tries to avoid grinning like an idiot and replies, "Not the kind of party I had in mind, but I'm touched."

"You've been awfully quiet at school. Well, _quieter_ , that is. Everything alright?" she asks, looking into his eyes with her own chocolate ones. He considers telling her about the latest comments, about his confrontation with Ava, about his plan to stick it to her. But did he really want to bring Rose into this, especially when they were already both under fire? He shakes his head and says no.

"It's nothing you need to be concerned about, Rosie. But by tonight, all our problems will be solved," he promises. Rose eyes him suspiciously.

"You aren't going to do something crazy, are you?" she presses, clearly seeing the same glimmer in his eyes when he helped her gain a seat on the Council.

"You can trust me, right?" There was a slight hitch in his octave, making him seem unsure himself.

"Yes, I do. But I want you to be careful. That was a really close call a few days ago," she says, pursing her lips in worry. "Try and stay close to someone you trust. Like Wes, Autumn or me. And NEVER drink something you didn't pour yourself."

"Ok, mom," he jokes, lightly pinching her tiny love handles. She lets out a tiny squeal and playfully bats his hands away, flushing a little. She brushes a small kiss on his cheek and they head inside Payton's house. When Rose is not looking in his direction, he looks along the walls for the wallflower girl. It was time to end this.

* * *

"I see you've taken me seriously after all," the wallflower girl says when Ace finally locks eyes with her. "Let me show you to my friends. But first, let's go outside. The music's getting loud and people are starting to get wild.

Outside, six teens, a writer girl, an emo girl, a cheerleader guy, rebel girl, a band guy and an artist guy introduce themselves in order.

"I am Kallie. It is a pleasure to finally familiarize myself with the infamous Ace," the writer says with a small grin.

"I'm Katherine. How could you get my friend's cousin kicked from the council?!"

Easy, Kat," the wallflower warns. "We have bigger fish to fry."

"I think you're familiar with me, Tall Dark and Slightly Less Evil. Shane's the name, don't wear it out."

"Koh. Cross me and I break your neck, got it?"

"I'm Calvin, and this is my best buddy, Ryan."

"Thanks for the introduction, Cal."

"And I'm Quinn," the wallflower girl says, extending a hand to Ace. "And I'm not a wallflower; I'm actually a filmmaker blending in with the common man. Pretty good huh?"

"You had me fooled," Ace admits. "So, do you guys usually hang out with each other or something?"

"We've bonded over similar interests," Quinn explains.

"Kinda like how you and the fabulous Rose _bonded_ , isn't it, Ace?" Shane taunts him. "Of course, people bond in different ways…"

"Ok, wow. Everyone's looking way too deep into this. We're not…exactly dating, but we're more than friends," Ace awkwardly clarifies. "Are we going to poke fun at my love life or are we going to find a way to put Ava in her place?"

"Ava? You mean Kara 'Ice Queen' 2.0? She walks around the gym during practice, acting like she owns the place. Ugh, such an SJW," Shane gripes, shaking his head in disgust.

"Pardon me, but I believe I caught sight of Ava in the vicinity of the punch bowl," Kallie pipes up.

"Looks like I'm not getting a drink tonight," Koh mutters, although she could actually care less.

"I was thirsty…" Cal half-jokingly complains.

"Focus, people! We need a get rid of Ava plot!" Quinn interrupts, snapping her fingers.

"No! We don't need to get rid of her," Ace says, a bit too quickly for his liking.

"Why are you all of a sudden defending her?" Shane asks. "Don't tell me she's turned you to the dark side…again."

Wes's words echo back to him.

 _"_ _Why are you defending him, Ace?"_

"I'm not. I just don't think we need to resort to underhanded tactics to get back at her," he argues defensively.

"Secretly recording Rose's ranting and leaking it was pretty underhanded to me," Kallie says, much to Ace's discomfiture.

"So you want to piss her off enough to admit everything on tape and in front of everyone at the party?" Calvin offers. "Ooh, cold! I like it."

"I'm good at making people mad," Koh offers. "Cheerleaders hate people like me. Follow me, Chase."

"It's Ace,"

"Whatever, weirdo," she scoffs as she and Ace are engulfed in the heat of the party. People of all types dancing together. Some people from other schools are there as well. If only it were easy to recognize the people making those mean comments. Ace continues scanning the room until his eyes rest on a particular curly red-headed girl in a suggestive red dress. Ava.

"I see her," Ace hisses.

"Uh oh, Lover Boy. Look who she's talking to," Koh warns, her eyes widening in surprise. Ace cranes his neck and his insides twist at the sight. Of course Ava was trying to sweet talk Rose. She'd just act all innocent and sweet, naïve Rose would fall for it hook, line, and sinker. "Get your girl out of the way. I got this."

With careful, tentative steps, Ace makes his way towards Ava and Rose. Rose smiles sweetly, while Ava indirectly looks at him the same way one would look at regurgitated food, underneath the guise of a smile.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute Rose," Ace cuts in, taking Rose by on hand. He gives Ava a faux smile. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow her for a while, do you Ava?"  
Ava returns the false greeting and agrees, "Sure. She'll all yours."

Ace practically drags her away from Ava as they get lost in the mix and Koh closes in on her.

"Hey, what's the big deal? Are you in trouble?" she asks in worry.

"No, but you will be if you and Ace don't play Seven Minutes in Heaven with us," Payton calls from across the room. Grateful for the distraction, Ace and Rose make their way towards the group of preps, cheerleaders, and heartthrobs in the circle. Surprisingly, they make room for the two and Payton checks her watch. "Hermione and Alex, your time is up!" Two cheerleaders, a guy and a girl step out of the aforementioned closet, a bit dazed.

"Alex, what's that thing on your neck?" A heartthrob calls out. Alex quickly slaps a hand on the mark as he and Hermione blush furiously.

"Well you were right about people getting wild at Payton's parties," Ace mentions to Rose.

"Is there something you need to tell me?" she says bluntly. "You've been a little off today."

"Well, actually-"

"Guess whose turn it is to play Seven Minutes in Heaven?"

Before either of them can register who said that, both are shoved into a medium size closet and the door shuts behind them. Ace barely manages to catch Rose before they tumble to the carpet.

"You were saying, Ace?"

"Fine. Ava's still tormenting me. I confronted her at school, but she just laughed and told me it wasn't her problem," he explains. "She's behind this whole website nonsense."

"I know Ava can be a little high strung, but don't you think accusing her of making the website is a bit over the top?"

"No! Just wait. I met a bunch of kids and they're going to prove she's behind this. Just wait," he says.

"You said 'just wait' twice."

"So?" Ace could feel himself slowly getting impatient. Koh should've incited a reaction by now. Even in the dark room, Rose senses his discomfort and reaches out for him.

"Just…keep it cool, ok? We'll just wait out the remaining time and see what happens," she assures, holding him close. He clasps on hand on her neck and stares intensely at the void where he assumed Rose was. Their lips meet, sending hot blood to his face and accelerating his heart rate. She strokes back a few strands of Ace's usually immaculate hair and coaxes his red sweater and white button down shirt off him as they lean back almost completely lying down. His mind is telling to be on the lookout for Koh and Ava, but his heart is telling him to shut up and continue kissing for what seemed like hours of heated electricity.

When they finally pull apart, all Ace can say is, "Well, even if it is my first make out session, it has to be my best one."

"I have a feeling we've been in here for a lot longer than seven minutes," Rose says, brushing a few strands of wayward hair back into its original place. "Heh, and you might at least want to put your shirt back on. I know how Payton gets when someone walks out of here half naked."

"At least I still have my undershirt on. That doesn't count, does it?" Rose giggles and tosses his clothes in his direction. He decides to keep the white shirt on, and throw the red sweater over his shoulder. It was a bit stuffy in there.

"Where have you been?!You guys have been gone for 20 minutes. I want to know all the details," Payton presses.

Ace and Rose exchange a glance. "All the details?"

"You should see Ava really losing her cool over by the punch table. Koh's been giving her a really hard time. I think she wants to fight," a surfer guy announces to no one in particular. The three turn to look at the scene. Koh is smirking, and Ava is now wearing an assortment of cupcakes and punch on her dress. Her eyes make her way towards Ace. Eyes narrowed, she points an expensively manicured finger at him.

"You! You are so dead, Cruz!"


	10. Foul!

A hush falls over the area. Even the DJ has stopped playing music, all eyes focus on the livid cheerleader and the fallen leader.

Ace tries to explain, "I didn't-"

"Oh, don't you start with your lies. I know you made Koh dump this stuff on me!" she screeches, flicking her hands in a manner that some punch and frosting lands on the tip of his nose and his left cheek.

"I didn't _make_ Koh do anything," he asserts, wiping the residue off his face. He resists licking it off his hand.

"The hell he did," Koh adds.

Ava curls her lip thinking of something nasty to say, until she takes in Ace's appearance. His hair is messy and out of place from the fondling. His sweater hangs over his shoulder limply. His shirt, while he had put it on, is open, exposing his gray undershirt.

"Why, you have others do your dirty work so you can have dirty fun?" she sneers. "You sure look the part."

A chorus of _OOOOoos_ ring through the room. Ace manages to ignore the taunting and stare squarely at Ava. His gaze is unwavering.

"Why? You jealous?" he snaps with a small smirk. This earns a few smatterings of laughter. Ava silences them all with a glare.

"Shut up! All of you! If you're here to make me take down that website then too bad! The world would be a much better place without you in it," Ava yells, jabbing her finger in his chest. There's a glimmer of triumph in Ace's eyes. "What the hell are you smirking about?"

"Wait, you're the one behind that horrible website? The one targeting me and Ace this whole time?" Rose demands, her normally cheery face darkening with rage.

"N-no! He's lying," Ava gasps, guilt clearly evident on her face. She turns on Ace. "You! You'll pay for this!"

Ace doesn't see her fist coming, so it slams into his chest like a mallet. The air in his lungs wheezes out, making a sound similar to a deflated balloon. He staggers back, getting a flashback.

 _"_ _You'll pay for this, Bartholomew," his father growled. He barely turned enough for his fist to avoid his chest and slammed into his arm. He staggered back, tears springing to his eyes. He involuntarily lets out a wince of pain._

For a while, he doesn't move, his face frozen in shock. He takes in choppy, shallow breaths. Unfazed, Ava continues taunting him.

"What's the matter? You too scared to hit back, 'cause you know you can't win?" she teases him, "accidentally" clawing his shirt, causing the sleeve to rip off and expose the bruised skin underneath. Everyone gasps. He pales, his heart dropping to his stomach. A strangled cry rises in his throat.

"No, because I know what it feels like to be pushed around like you don't deserve to live anymore," he chokes, before heading out the door. He slams straight into Wes, who was watching the scene from outside the window. A first for Wes, he pulls him into a tight hug. At first Ace is surprised by this, but accepts his sudden break in character.

"I know, Ace. I know," he says, patting his back. "Don't get used to this. By tomorrow you know I'll send you a dirty text. I heard you and Rose had an extended 7 Minutes in Heaven."

"Dssnt mtter. Effeeon ohs the fruth ehbow mh ow," Ace mumbles, still smothered in Wes's hug. Wes pulls back, gripping him firmly by his shoulders.

"What?"

"I said, it doesn't matter. Everyone knows the truth about me now," he repeats.

"At least they won't hate you anymore. Ava's career is finished after this. I got help from a few friends," Wes explains as the teens he met before step out of the house.

"We found out the whole thing from the fabulous Rose," Shane explains. "Whatever possessed you not to tell someone about this?"

"He's a wuss," Wes answers for him. "That's all you need to know. Shane, I know you have connections with the cheerleading scholarship foundation. Make sure that little scholarship check Ava was supposed to get…disappears."

"Consider it gone, sweetheart," he replies with a sassy flourish, posing like a boss.

"Don't _ever_ call me that," Wes snaps. Shane shrugs. "Koh, excellent job riling Ava up."

"Frankly all she needed was to see Ace to lose her cool. I just gave her a little push in the right direction," Koh admits.

"Cool, cool. Quinn, I assume you caught the whole thing on tape?"

"Yep. Right up to Ace leaving the house," Quinn confirms, patting her camera.

"Awesome. Kallie, Ryan, and Calvin, how's your witness credibility"

"We were all in close proximity to Ava, so our defense will be impenetrable," Kallie reports with a small smile.

"Excellent. See, Ace? Even though you've stabbed my back, I've still got yours," Wes remarks. "Wrong choice of words. Koh, make a mental note to smack me every time I say something stupid or insensitive."

"So, smack you all the time? Got it," Koh kids.

"Heh, you're lucky you're cool." An ear piercing shriek interrupts them.

"Sounds like Rose isn't too happy with Ava," Wes comments. "Ezra told me one time she dumped soda on Lena's head for messing with his emotions."

"Yeah, she's nice and sweet most of the time, but she can be a real powerhouse when she wants to," Shane adds as more screams fill the air. They peer in the doorway. Ava looks a complete mess, while Rose fixes her hair. Everyone inside is laughing hysterically. Furious at her humiliation, Ava storms outside. Ace takes this as a hint to run, as she trails him soon after.

"Don't just stand there, bitches! That crazy psychopath wants to kill him!" Shane orders as the others soon follow pursuit.

Ace manages to keep track of his own two feet as the smell of frosting and punch wafts dangerously close to him. He has no idea why Ava, of all people hated him so much as to want him dead. He makes a sharp turn around the corner, nearly spraining his ankle.

"What is your problem?!" he barks at her. " You can't keep doing this!"

"You are an absolute menace," she shrieks, narrowly missing his collar. He doesn't want to do this, but it appears Ava has left him no choice. He puts his foot out behind him and trips her. She swears, but Ace manages to gain a pretty good lead on her. In good timing too. His legs were starting to get tired. When he is 90% sure no one is following him, he sinks against a wall and buries his face in his hands.

" _Why is my life like this?"_ he thinks. " _What did I do to be born into such a life? Always having to be perfect, stepping on people I care about for personal gain, everyone hating me, dad…For once, I wish I was dead. Maybe drown in a bathtub, or flip off the Empire State Building, as Ava suggested. For once, would be weightless. No work to do, no one expecting you to be perfect, no beatings, no Ava, no Rose…no Rose. Maybe I shouldn't…Gah! What am I saying? She'll live. She'll do just as fine now as she was before I came in her life...No…if I was gone, it'd break her. I can't do that to Rose. Besides, I'd miss her badly. Beyond our little cute moments and kisses, she makes it easy to love. After being taught all my life that feeling anything but pride and triumph was seen as weak, she showed me it was ok to have feelings for someone that didn't involve gain. She didn't think I was perfect, and I loved that._ "

"Yo! If you're done playing emu, we gotta go, Ace. Rose said her stomach was hurting her really badly. She got really bloated and passed out. Did you know she's gluten intolerant? And I'm fairly certain it got pretty messy with the cupcakes when she and Ava fought and she accidentally ate one," Wes says, breaking into his thoughts. "Payton said she bakes all her cupcakes, so the ones Rose ate were store-bought. I know you didn't bring jack to the party. Any ideas on who might have done this? Ace, where are you going?"

"Back to the house," he splutters, pushing past Wes, and making his way back to Payton's house.

"Ace, wait! I think Ava might still be there."

"Screw her. It's Rose I'm worried about."


	11. Memory Lane

**A/N: Finally uploaded a picture of Rose. Check the cover image. :)**

"If I'd know all it'd take to make you care about something other than yourself was Rose, I would have set you up _way_ earlier," Wes jokes as they make their way back to Payton's house.

"Shut up, Wes," Ace snaps, flushing a bit. "I just want to make sure she's ok."

"She's fine. She thought Ava got you the way you took off running when she saw you. I think that's what made her faint," Wes states. He shakes his head. "Remember when you first met me? We were 9½ at the time. You were class president, I was the resident slacker."

"You still are," Ace remarks. "And I know. The teacher assigned us to a project together. You wanted to be a hustler and interview the thugs that…hung around Marie Curie Elementary. I remember I got really mad and told you that was a stupid idea. I said we should be crime investigators, and you got all defensive and said my idea was stupid."

"I shoved you into a wall. You hit your head on the water fountain and burst into tears," Wes can hardly contain his laughter. "I panicked because I was already on my fifth detention, and you were crying pretty hard."

* * *

 _"_ _Hey, kid? Bartholomew, is it? What a weird name. Anyway, I didn't mean to shove you," Wes apologized. "Come on, quit crying. It's not like I hit you."_

 _"_ _M-my head hurts…" the sobbing boy sniffed. He knew his father would be upset to see him like this. So weak and useless…_

 _"_ _Do you want me to take you to the nurse?" he offered, holding out his hand. Ace (Or Bartholomew, as he was then known as) looked at his hand and cowered away. He was worried the larger boy would drag him into a dark alley and hurt him. "Look dude, I'm a slacker, not a bully. And, well…I don't want to get a failing grade. I know you don't either. How about we meet at the library and we discuss the project?"_

 _Ace looked up at him and slowly nodded._

 _He wasn't sure if Wes was going to show up. He did have a habit of "losing his way" to class. For an hour. Ace decided to close his eyes for a while. A sudden rapping on the desk woke him right up._

 _"_ _I'm here, sleeping beauty. I just…um 'borrowed' this kid's lunch money and got a snack. Want a Cheese Puff?" Wes offered, holding the bag of orange puffs in front of him. He had to admit, he was a little hungry, but the way Wes obtained the snack was questionable._

 _"_ _What do you mean, 'borrowed'?" Ace asked._

 _"_ _This kid owed my money and he kept holding out. Then I saw him bragging to his friends about how much money he had. So, I took matters into my own hands," Wes explained, shrugging his shoulders._

 _"_ _That's stealing!"_

 _"_ _Shush! And it's not stealing if it was yours to begin with," Wes hissed. "Now do you want a Cheese Puff or not?"_

 _"_ _I_ want _to get this project done so I can get an A. My parents would kill me if I got anything less than a stellar grade," Ace retorted._

 _"_ _Jeez, your parents need to chill. Getting a bad grade is not the end of the world," Wes grumbles. Ace could feel himself slowly losing patience with Wes._

 _"_ _It is to me," he snapped, slamming his hands on the table. The librarian looked up from her desk and shushed the two boys. Ace sunk back in his seat, his face burning at his outburst._

 _"_ _Look, Bartholomew…I know stuff like this is important to you and all, but you need to chill. We came here to talk about the project. Let's talk."_

 _"_ _I guess we could merge our ideas together," Ace offered. "We could do a report on the relationship between crime and justice in the city. You interview the…uh, hustlers. I'll interview the police."  
"Cool," Wes agreed. "You know, Bartholomew…you're ok…for a square."_

 _"_ _Thanks…I guess?"_

 _Over the next few days, their plan went on seamlessly. Wes actually did the work for once and Ace was sure to get an A on the project. As a token of his thanks, he got his mom to drive him over to Wes's house with a cake. Everyone likes cake. No sooner had her car left the neighborhood; two guys cornered Ace before he could ring the doorbell._

 _"_ _What's in the box, kid?" One of them leered, snatching the box away from him._

 _"_ _Hey!" the 9 year old cried, trying to reach of the box. "That's for my partner!"_

 _The guy looked at Ace, opened the box, and then threw it on the ground. The guy next to him stomps on the box, laughing viciously._

 _"_ _Hope your partner likes crumbled cake!" They jeered, running off as they laughed hysterically. Poor Ace was crushed. He'd worked so hard on making the cake as perfect as it could be. The door opened, and Wes walked up behind him._

 _"_ _Hey Bartholomew," he greeted. "Why are you staring at some crushed box on the floor?"_

 _"_ _I made a cake to thank you for helping me with the project, and these two guys came and ruined it," he answered dejectedly. "It was supposed to be perfect…"_

 _"_ _Dude. It already is perfect. You know I've never liked cutting or eating perfectly fine cake. I never wanted to ruin it," Wes consoled him. "Besides, since it's already ruined…"_

 _He picked up the box, grabbed a chunk of cake and shoved it in his mouth._

 _"_ _Free cake," he mumbled. Ace cringes a little at this. "What? This is really good."_

 _"_ _How do you do it?" inquired Ace. "How do you manage to stay so cool and collected."_

 _"_ _Well, for starters, I don't go by a long and boring name like Bartholomew. I shortened the name Wesley, to Wes," Wes explained. "How would you feel about being called Bart?"_

 _"_ _I would feel like a Simpsons character."he answered_

 _"_ _Tholo?"_

 _"_ _What?"_

 _"_ _Mew~"_

 _"_ _ABSOLUTELY NOT!"_

 _"_ _Chill out, I was joking. Kinda. Now what kind of name is short and to the point."_

 _"_ _How about…Ace?" he suggests. Wes's face brightens._

 _"_ _Ace! That's brilliant," he beamed, exposing the gap in his teeth. "That's your new name."_

 _"_ _Are you sure? You can't really spell Ace from Bartholomew…"_

 _"_ _Who cares? The name will grow on you."_

* * *

"And that's basically how we became friends," Wes finishes. "Well, at least we were until you-"

"I know! And what does this have to do with anything, Wes?"

"Just taking a trip down memory lane," Wes answers. "Maybe it will help you remember why Ava's such a buttwipe to you."

"That's just it! I don't know what I did to piss her off. She might be in my memories somewhere, but I don't recall doing anything to anyone so horrible that they want to make my life a living hell," he says, running a hand through his hair.

"I think this will help," Wes says, looking up ahead. "Looks like the party's not over after all."

"Dudes," Koh says without a greeting. "Cheerleader Bitch wants to talk face to face. Don't worry. She can't lay a finger on you, otherwise we'll jump her. Then call the cops. And jump her again."

"I really can't do this," Ace tries to argue. "She tried to kill me on more than one occasion."

"I don't think you have a choice. She has your dad on speed dial."

 **Hmm...why does Ava really despise Ace?**


	12. Ava's side of the story

"I can't believe I completely forgot about my dad, all this time!" Ace exclaims, turning white almost immediately. "He must be furious by now. It's past 10 p.m."

"Too late for that," Koh says, pulling him by the arm into the house. "Let's go."

When they get in the house, the music has resumed playing and nearly everyone seems to have forgotten the little incident. Ace, Wes and Koh make their way through the throng of students and find Payton and Rose in the former's bedroom. Rose is holding an icepack over her stomach and lying on the bed.

"Finally, we've been waiting forever for you to come," Payton complains. "Poor Rose thought you were dead!"

"Did not! I was worried something bad happened to him!" Rose retorts.

"Ok, you can let her out of the closet, Koh," Payton orders. Koh opens the closet door with a swift kick and Ava comes tumbling out, wearing a floral top and khaki shorts.

"You have the fashion sense of a monkey," Ava sneers.

"Just be glad I gave you last YEAR'S outfit and not something worse. It's hard finding clothes in your size," Payton snaps, rolling her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ava demands.

"Before you two claw out each other's throats, let's address why we're here. Ace, it's clear you and Ava have enough beef with each other to feed an orphanage, so I want Ava to explain why that is," Wes interrupts, folding his arms across his chest.

"He knows why," the cheerleader grumbles.

"I don't. Why don't you remind me."

"Fine. I suppose you remember a student named Avalina Edwards?"

"Probably."

"A student you've one upped every year since 4th grade?"

"I have to stay on top of everyone, what's your point?"

"Ace, your old self is showing," Wes warns. "Tone it down."

"You beat me in virtually anything we could compete in. Academic decathlons, spelling bees, science fair, valedictorian, you name it. I knew that something suspicious was going on," Ava continues.

"My winning those contests was legit," Ace retorts. "Unlike you I don't need to bribe people to get the things I want."

"Everyone thought so. Everyone but me. Then when everyone saw your true colors they finally saw you for the fake you always were. At least until you got into this school and Rose managed to get people to start trusting you again."

Ace tries not to roll his eyes and calmly states, "Wow, that's it? You spent this whole time trying to sabotage me because you're a sore loser? That's kinda lame. Ow! Quit elbowing me in the ribs, Wes."

"There's more to it, jerk," she snaps. "You ruined my family."

(Flashback)

 _It was the winter of eighth grade. The school was doing a charity drive. The person or team with the most items or most money collected would win a scholarship to the high school of their choice. Ace wanted to go to Hearst at first, but set his sights on Kepler. Wes honestly didn't care what high school he was getting into._

 _"_ _We gotta win that scholarship," Ace enthused. "Kepler would be an awesome -I mean_ opportunistic _\- school to go to."_

 _"_ _Man, everyday you sound more and more like your parents. Get a life," Wes jeered playfully. "I'm all in for helping if I get a cut of the dough."_

 _"_ _It's a scholarship, Wes. There is no_ dough _."_

 _"_ _Not if you use it there isn't. Maybe I'll swing by Twin Branches or something," he mumbled. Ace sighed. His friend was never going to set his hopes high on anything. Without hesitation, he signed his and Wes's names on the signup sheet._

 _"_ _Out of my way, Partners in Crime," A girl with curly red hair snapped, shoving Ace out of the way as she signs her name on the sheet. "I bet you two goons think this will be another clean sweep. A heist, as Wesley might say."_

 _"_ _My name's_ Wes, _" the slacker sneered, crossing his arms. "And why do you care, Avalina?_

 _"_ _I'm entering this charity drive, and the last thing I need is a couple of cheaters stealing the show again," she scoffed._

 _"_ _Cheater?!"Ace exclaimed, frowning in indignation._

 _"_ _I'll have you know we have a respectable partnership here," Wes retorted._

 _"_ _We'll see if your theory hold up when I win the charity drive," she sniffed, sashaying away with a florish._

(End Flashback)

"Ok, the only thing I got out of that was that you're just as much as a brat then as you are now," Ace comments.

"Then why have beef with Ace only? I was his partner, too. Why aren't you mad with me?"

"Because Ace thought it would be pretty funny to try and donate to _my_ family!" she seethes. "We were having financial difficulties, and word got around at school. How do you think I felt, having the same guy who was better at me in everything show up as a Good Samaritan."

"It was a win-win," Ace argues. "I was closer to getting into Kepler, and you would have food on the table."

"AH-HA!" Ava asserts. "So you do remember what happened!"

"No, I choose the most effective strategy to maximize benefits while reaping the least consequences," he answers firmly.

Jamming a manicured finger in his chest, she hisses, "My parents saw you at the door. And you know what they did when they saw the famous 5 year champ of everything and valedictorian? They yelled at me, and told me I wasn't working hard enough! They argued amongst themselves and eventually they split up. They told me you and your parents have it made. Of course, the GOLDEN BOY would have everything handed to him on a silver platter!"

At this point their faces were just inches apart, both of them vibrating intense hatred. Ace steps back a little and says, "You don't know me at all, Ava, so don't you dare think I had everything in life handed to me. If that were the case, I wouldn't be here. I'd still be at Kepler. In fact, I'd be at the White House with that sweet Hamilton internship. But I didn't get it…because I didn't deserve it."

Ava is running out of arguments to make. "Well, you only lost it…because you didn't have your buddy Wes pulling the strings for you!"

"Leave me outta this, man," Wes mutters.

"For what it's worth, I'm really sorry that happened to you and your family. But my intentions at the time were never malicious. I had a dream," he says, his harsh tone softening a little. "And believe me, it is not easy having a dream and keeping your parents happy."

"Too little, too late, Ace," she says quietly, her face turning into a scowl. "I hope your dad really lets you have it after coming home late tonight."

"You know what? Forget this. If you want to be petty and refuse to bury the hatchet, be my guest," he says, before leaving the room. "But at least you know my achievements weren't flukes."


	13. Rock Bottom

Brushing past the wild partygoers, Ace makes his way towards the exit. He was fuming. All this time, Ava hated him over coming to her house for the charity drive! If it was that serious, she could've simply told him what was going on and maybe they could've worked something out…maybe. Whatever. He had to go home as soon as possible. Hopefully his father had gone to sleep. His mother is due to arrive tomorrow morning.

No security guards. That's a good sign. With intense trepidation he slowly opens the door and creeps inside. He finds his way towards his room and shuts the door behind him. Slowly sinking down the door, he sighs in relief.

 **WildWes: U make it home alive**

 **AceofSpace: Yes, I'm fine. I think my dad's asleep. How's Rose?**

 **WildWes: ur gf is fine, romeo.**

 **AceofSpace: Very funny, Wes.**

There's a long, suspicious pause in replies. Ace considers sending another text, but his phone buzzes before he can hint send.

 **WildWes: i mean shes really fine ;)**

 **AceofSpace: Why are you talking about Rose like that?**

 **WildWes: u dont deserve her, but i do.**

 **AceofSpace: Wes, are you drunk?**

 **WildWes: luv drunk that is…**

 **AceofSpace: What's going on? Where's Rose?**

 **WildWes: we the club dancing together.**

Ace gets a very sick feeling in his body.

 **AceofSpace: Ok, I don't know who spiked your drink or whatever, but you need to go home.**

 **WildWes: I dont hav to do a thing u say. We not friends.**

 **AceofSpace: Wait…what do you mean we're not friends.**

 **WildWes: the 1** **st** **time we were but now we not.**

 **AceofSpace: Wes…what are you talking about…What did I do?**

 **WildWes: fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, fuk u**

 **AceofSpace: Wes…**

 **WildWes: save it loser. we r done.**

Ace blinks, trying to reread the series of texts he and Wes sent. Why was Wes going from his closest ally to a practical stranger? And why did he say he was with Rose? He decides to give her a call. After five rings, she picks up. Instead of her sweet, sing-song voice, it was cold, clipped, and distant. Almost didn't sound like her at all.

"What is it Ace?" she snaps.

"Rose, you don't exactly sound like yourself. Are you ok? Wes said we weren't friends at all. What's going on?" He asks warily.

"Nothing's going on, Ace. Just like nothing's going on between us," she sneers.

"But we've kissed several times. You told me you liked me…"

"Wow, you have really gone soft. You actually think my feelings for you were real? Please. Did you honestly think I'd forgive you so easily? The world would be a much better place without you in it."

Ace drops his phone. It clatters to the ground.

"So this is it, huh?" he whispers to himself. My friend suddenly dumps me, and Rose acts like she never liked me…"

He wants to start bawling, but the shock of losing the two people he thought cared about him seemed to dry up his eyes. He heard footsteps stomping up the stairs towards his room. His father must have heard him talking to Rose. He decides he if he was no longer wanted in the world, then he would go out on his own terms. Before he knew it, a capsule of pills was in his hand. And they were empty in a flash. Someone pounds on the door, trying to unlock the door. He waits for the pills to take effect and writes a few notes down.

When the pills finally start to kick in, he drowsily notices the phone is still on.

"What are you doing with my phone? What are you doing with Wes's phone? Oh my gosh, what did you say to Ace?" he hears someone exclaim. "Ace, this is Rose. The real one. Listen, don't do anything crazy. It was all a lie. Wes is still your friend. I still love you! Ace…I'm calling 911!"

"A bit too late for that, Rosie," he groans before darkness takes over.

(Bad Ending)

His father bursts into the room, ready to strike. He freezes when he sees his son lying on the floor motionless. He gives him a sharp kick, but he doesn't stir.

"Get up, you lazy fool!" he raves. "Do you honestly playing possum will spare you tonight? Up!"

He picks Ace up by his collar and tosses him onto the bed. The teen simply lays there, his limbs limp and lifeless. He takes a closer look at Ace. His eyes are foggy, as though he were forever lost. His lips are partially open, as though trying to say something. His father notices the capsule of pills on the floor and panics. He realizes Ace must have attempted suicide. Before he can call an ambulance, sirens are already blaring outside his house. Among them are Rose, Wes, and the rest of their friends. He steps out of his house, his son hanging in his arms.

"I found him like this," he croaks, sounding no longer like a dominant, powerful man, but an old, weak being. Rose gasps and bursts into tears. Wes looks away, occasionally wiping at his eyes and pulling her into a brotherly hug.

"Say it ain't so, Ace," Wes mumbles sniffling a little.

The paramedics struggle to resuscitate him…but in spite of their best efforts his heart stops 45 minutes later.

For the first time, the cold shell of his father cracks. His son…his flesh and blood…was gone for good. He had pushed him to the edge, treated him like a pet failure, not as family. The paramedic closes Ace's eyes for him, and signs the death warrant.

(Time Skip)

"Sure, my buddy Ace made mistakes, but he's still human. It's a shame we didn't all realize that until it was too late," Wes finishes. "Good bye, Ace. It was a pleasure working with you."

The service wasn't too long and most of Ace's close friends and family members showed up. Surprisingly, Ava was there too, but everyone either ignores her or gives her a cold stare, Wes and Rose especially. The police present Rose, Wes, Ava, and Mr. Cruz with letters. Apparently, Ace had written them in the moments before his suicide. They varied in terms of the relationship between each one but ultimately said the same message: _All is forgiven_.

(Good Ending)

Had Mr. Cruz not bust down the door when he did, it might have been too late for Ace. He freezes when he sees his son lying on the floor motionless. He gives him a sharp kick, but he doesn't stir.

"Get up, you lazy fool!" he raves. "Do you honestly playing possum will spare you tonight? Up!"

He picks Ace up by his collar and tosses him onto the bed. The teen simply lays there, his limbs limp and lifeless. He takes a closer look at Ace. His eyes are foggy, as though he were forever lost. His lips are partially open, as though trying to say something. His father notices the capsule of pills on the floor and panics. He realizes Ace must have attempted suicide. Before he can call an ambulance, sirens are already blaring outside his house. Among them are Rose, Wes, and the rest of their friends. He steps out of his house, his son hanging in his arms.

"I found him like this," he croaks, sounding no longer like a dominant, powerful man, but an old, weak being. Rose gasps and bursts into tears. Wes looks away, occasionally wiping at his eyes and pulling her into a brotherly hug.

"Say it ain't so, Ace," Wes mumbles, sniffling a little.

"Hey, we got a pulse. He's hanging in there, but barely," one of the paramedics reports. Rose sighs in relief and Wes grins a little. He gives Rose's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Ace moans a little and opens his eyes slowly "He's coming to. Get a stretcher ready."

Wes crouches down next to him. "Ace, buddy? You near gave me a heart attack."

Ace looks up at him, his words barely audible. "My head hurts."

In the hospital, Rose clasps her hand in his. "Everything you heard and saw was an awful lie. I hope you believe me."

"And surprise, surprise. Ava isn't behind this. Turns out Ava wasn't working alone in all this," Wes explains. "In fact the person who nabbed our phones doesn't even go to our school."

 **(So, this isn't exactly the end yet, nor are we at the epilogue, but the story is winding down soon. Stay tuned to see how Ace and the others react to being played…again.)**


	14. Getting his Mojo Back

Wes paces the hospital floor, eyes furrowed in frustration. It was rare to see him deviant of his laid-back demeanor.

"Give it a rest Wes," Ace says. "I'm alive and that's all that matters."

Grabbing him by his collar, a red-faced Wes hisses, "You seem awful content for someone who just downed a whole capsule of pills." He breathes heavily, returning to his normal face. He releases Ace's collar and scowls.

"How was I supposed to know that was a faux?"

"Why would you think I'd suddenly turn on you!?"

"I don't know! I was pretty upset and we were already under fire. I didn't think you cared, anyway."

"I do, okay?" Wes admits. "You know, after my brother was arrested, you were the closest thing to family I have. Jokes aside, you were the only one who saw past my laid-back personality. Well, you and Rose."

"I heard her on the phone. I wasn't sure if it was her voice or not, but she has fallen for traps on numerous occasions," Ace says, shrugging. Wes narrows his eyes into little brown slits.

"I don't think you're upset that your attempt failed," Wes explains bluntly. "You're upset that you thought you had done to you what you did to us."

"I thought we were past this…"

"We can forgive, but not forget. I thought you knew that already," Wes scolds. "Anyway, onto more pressing matters. Aside from Ava, who else have you managed to piss off?"

"Well, I sunk Max's election and replaced him with Kara," Ace recalls.

"Well, that one was more or less for a worthy cause…Who else?"

Ace takes a shaky breath before continuing, "I eventually blackmailed Kara into voting yes to closing down the school, found a way to get Bridgette kicked out of the council as well as Asher…"

"What about Jack Carver?"

"What _about_ Jack Carver?"

"Remember that party with some North Ridge girls?"

"What? OH! That was just a business strategy. Recruits were necessary to build support. Plus, they were _fine._ Besides, do you think they'd be better with someone like Carver?"

"Maybe not, but now we have a small list of suspects. I'll have Nishan and Sakura cross reference the users on that god-awful website to broaden our options."

"You don't have to do this Wes. I'm fine. The doctor told me my dad, shocking as it is, was the one who found me and took me outside. And longer and I would have been a goner. I guess he really does care…"

"Focus, Ace. You're really out of it."

"Sorry. Well, aside from those people, there could be countless others who have a vendetta against me."

"At least it's a start," Wes sighs. "Now, while everyone else gets to the bottom of this, I want you to get your mojo back. When you get out of this psych ward, we're going to hang. Just like old times."

"Just like when we were kids," Ace says, thinking back to the day they first met. "I thought you were a mess."

"And I thought you were too stiff. Needed to loosen up quite a bit," Wes adds, smirking at the memory. "Oh, I almost forgot something."

"What?"

As Wes leaves the hospital bed he yells, "Rose wanted me to send you a kiss, but…nah!"

Unable to hide his smirk and slight blush, he calls back, "Wes, you son of a-"

"I can't believe I'm doing this again," Ace says as Wes dials a random number. A few days after his attempted suicide, his father withdrew from him. He didn't put his hands on his son, talk to him, or even look at him. At least he was still allowed to visit his friends' homes. So far, he managed to open up to Wes only.

"We're just going to mess with some Hearst kids, watch an R rated movie, and jump in the Rollins' pool," Wes explains. "I'll even invite the others."

"We used to do stuff like this?"

"Yeah. You were always good at getting people to do what you want."

"I guess. Who are you calling?"

"Dwayne Michaels. The jerk thought it would be funny to scratch up my car while I was passed out," Wes grumbles. "I'm going to make it seem like we kidnapped his lucky cleats, and if he ever wants to see them again, he ought to pay for the damages. Ready?"

"I guess."

"Just think _Ace_ and it will all come back to you," Wes says, handing his phone over to Ace.

"It's like, 11 in the night, man! I've gotta get some sleep!" a low voice growls into the phone.

Ace clears his throat, and with a lowered octave, he sneers. "Listen, _Dwayne Michaels_. I know where you live. My buddy Wes isn't too happy with you scratching up his car. So my associates had the pleasure of taking something from you. We have your prized pair of cleats."

" NO!" the voice bellows. "Those are my lucky cleats. Please don't hurt them! I'll do anything to get them back."

"Wow, he's desperate," Wes mumbles in the background. Thankfully, he didn't hear Wes's comment. "Keep going."

"If you want them back, meet us at the Slacker Hangout at Wes's school with enough money to pay for the damages," Ace warns, his voice low and gruff. "Also, bring anyone but yourself and the shoes get it."

He hangs up and smiles at Wes.

"Hook, line and sinker, my brother!"

"Amen to that! Do you really have his cleats?"

"Nah…I was bluffing," Wes admits. "Dwayne will probably figure that out when the can of mayo I set up at the door falls on him.

"Using the same prank twice? You're terrible," Ace teases him.

"What, with the way you fooled Dwayne? What an atrocity!" Wes exclaims in mock horror.

"Wes, using a big word? You learn something new every day!"

"Screw you. Let's head to the movies. I hear '50 Shades of Gray' is playing."

"Oh no," Ace moans. " Not that trashy movie."

"I know. That's why we're bringing the others to make fun of it. We might get thrown out, but it would be fun anyway.

 **WildWes: calling all losers! impromptu movie firing squad meeting local movie theater. 50 shades of grey is playing!**

 **MusicManEzra: Really, Wes? That movie? You know Im gonna roast the movie so bad…**

 **PreppyPartyCentral: as an avid supporter of love and lust, this movie is like an R rated version of…well… you!**

 **AutmmnTheArtistic: Im not sure I want to see a movie like that…but if we're making fun of it…I guess you can count me in**

 **GamerGirlGeekSakura: All the kinks in that movie are constantly reused in certain RP requests I keep getting…I'll show you when we get there.**

 **JocktasticJulian: I'll go, but only if Autumn's coming too.**

 **HardKoreKoh: Would I miss a roasting session with my favorite slacker? Hell no! :D**

 **TechNishanogy: Im assuming the knocking at my door is Julian trying to drag me to this movie. Well,** ** _Carpe Diem._**

 **MiaMyselfandMe: I'll, catch up w/ you guys later. I'm in the middle of a midnight medi-pedi.**

 **RadiantRose: I'd love to go. With my friends? Always.**

 **AceofSpace: Well…since almost everyone agrees, I guess we'll see you at the theater.**

Wes shuts of his phone and smirks at Ace. "Trust me. After tonight, you'll be back and better than ever."

"I hope you're right…"


	15. 50 Shades of Lame

"Keep it down over here, guys. I wanna see if Dwayne really fell for the message we sent him," Wes shushes the chattering group as they pull up into the slacker hangout. Wes turns out the head lights and watches carefully. A lean, but muscular guy makes his way towards the ramps and looks around. He picks up a note and looks up. Seconds later, he is covered head to toe with mayo! The teens inside Wes' car roar with laughter. Dwayne looks up at them, his eyes red with anger.

"YOU!" He bellows, pointing at the car.

"I think now's a good time to get out of here," Wes chuckles as he pounds on the gas pedal. The wheels screeched as they left poor mayo-drenched Dwayne in the dust.

"The infamous mayo prank, huh, Wes?" Rose asks with a teasing pout.

"Hey at least it's not you getting drenched in mayo," Wes reminds her.

"You still will pay for that stunt, Wes," she threatens playfully.

"I will pay…with tickets to tonight's movie roast session!"

(Time Skip)

"Wow, we haven't even gotten into the kinky part and I'm already turned off," Ezra says, smirking at the screen.

Wes quickly stands up and shouts, "With me, the girl doesn't have to pretend!"

The theater is in stitches. The usher angrily searches through the theatre with a bright flashlight, looking for the naysayer. The gang stifles fits of laughter as he looks through each of the halls.

"Ok, _now_ things are getting interesting," Julian says with a smile before Autumn elbows him. "Um, I mean, this movie is super lame."

"I've never understood the use of industrial items to stimulate arousal," Ace comments, unable to look at anymore.

"I think we found the one thing you're inexperienced at," Koh points out. The others snicker and Ace flushes a little.

Before Wes can make a slick comment, Ace adds, "No, I'm not going to practice this!"

"I wasn't going to say that," Wes admits. "But since you put the idea in my mind…"

Koh, sitting behind him, dumps what was left of her cherry soda on top of his head. Spluttering and wiping the soda off his outfit, he turns and tosses his popcorn in her face. This causes the two of them to start bickering loudly. Other viewers turn around and glare at the group in the back of the movie theatre. At last the usher locates them and sternly tells them to leave. Wes and Koh are still arguing by the time they reach the concessions stand/

"Wait…where's Rose?" Payton asks. "I haven't seen her since the couple started getting into it."

Everyone freezes and looks around.

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere," Nishan assures, sounding uncertain himself.

"I'll look for her," Ace offers. Wes nods and follows him.

"I'll check the girls bathroom, you look outside," Wes explains.

"You're going in the girls bathroom?" Ace questions suspiciously.

"No! I'll knock on the door and wait outside. I'm a bit of a tease, but I'm not a perv."

Outside the cool wind nips at the back of his neck, so he pulls on the collar of his red sweater, while calling out for Rose.

"Rose? Where are you? You ok?" he calls out. He hears a muffled cry in response. He quickens his pace and rounds the corner. He sees Rose against the wall, a taller guy, about college age, pinning her to the wall with one hand and covering her mouth with the other.

"Why are you fighting me, Rosie?" he purrs, removing the hand from her mouth to storke her cheek. "I've changed, just like you say Ace has changed~"

"Jack…please stop," she begs as Jack slips a hand under her blouse. "I…I 'm already seeing someone."

"Who? Bartholomew? Please," he scoffs, ignoring her struggle to break free. "He doesn't deserve you, but I do."

"No, Jack! Stop!" she was near tears by now.

"Heard you guys were watching 50 shades of Gray? How about we reenact a few scenes?"

"Once a girl-stealer, always a girl-stealer, huh Jack," Ace says, deciding to make himself known. "No means no."

Jack backs up from Rose, but still remains very close.

"You're one to talk, Ace," he sneers. The two males size each other up, intense gaze to intense gaze. A thought flashes in his mind.

"Save it Jack. I know you were at Payton's party a few days ago," he accuses. A look of surprise crosses Jack's face. He replaces it with an expression of annoyance.

"You can't prove a thing," he snaps, puffing his chest proudly.

"Maybe not, but I can report you for harassing a minor. She's 16," Ace explains, pulling out his phone. "Don't make this hard on yourself."

Jack takes one look at as then at Rose. He winks at her and heads to his car. Once he's out of sight, Rose collapses into Ace's arms.

"Thank you," she says muffled by his sweater. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't showed up."

"I'm just glad you're fine," he says, hugging her. "What happened?"

"I couldn't take watching anymore of the movie, so I went outside for a breather. I din't even see Jack at all. Then he told me… he and Lena were the people behind the stolen phones and you…well, you know," Rose explains. "They got the idea off the website Ava made. I yelled at him and told him he was cruel for pushing you over the edge. I turned to leave, and that's when he cornered me."

"Well, at least we have our suspects. I'll get Wes and tell the others we found you. There's nothing to do here now that we've been kicked out. Wait in the car and lock the door. We'll be right back."

(Time Skip)

"Carver's up to his old tricks," Ezra grumbles, scowling after hearing what happened.

"Sometimes I wish I took a drum to his face," Julian remarks.

"The important thing is, everyone's safe now," Autumn says.

"What's more, I think we owe the Rollins a visit," Wes says, pulling up in front of a huge mansion.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Payton reminds him.

"Come on, I can afford to get this wet, Koh already drenched my hoodie with her soda," Wes says.

"She means Mia! And you deserved that for picking on dweebs." Koh interrupts.

Wes pulls over while Payton calls Mia. Ace glances at Rose's blushing face and smiles.

" _Why did I ever think of giving you up?"_ he thinks to himself, pulling her closer.

"I'm really glad you're still here, Ace," Rose says.

"Yeah, me too."


	16. Deep Talk

**Before starting this chapter I'd like to shout out** BlackCanary98 **for noticing the continuity error in the previous chapter. The guys name is in fact Dwayne, not Derek. Might have got the two mixed up on account that there is a HSS character from Hearst named Derek. And also, thanks for sticking with the story so long! :D**

"Could Mia take a little less long to get here?"Julian complains, frowning at his phone. "It's nearly midnight!"

"She sensed that none of us even bothered to bring swimsuit, and is doing late night emergency shopping," Payton announces, reading Mia's text. "How could she not invite me?"

"Can't we just hop in without her?" Wes offers.

"Why? So people can see what you look like in briefs only?" Koh challenges, lightly elbowing him.

"You're terrible. Here comes Mia. Gee, her car is PACKED!" Wes says, gesturing to the pink vehicle arriving next to his.

"She is _so_ not getting me to wear anything frilly," Koh remarks. "I'll ring that skinny little blonde's neck before she does that."

"I see you guys haven't died from watching that movie," Mia chirps, bringing out several bags and handing them to everyone. "If we're going to be breaking and entering, we should at least do it in style."

The guys more or less get changed quickly, but the girls spend quite a long time in Mia's car. Wes casually leans on the car, slightly tilting it. Screams and swears come out from the car. Koh pops her head out of the window.

"We're done but Rose refuses to come out," she explains. "She said something about 'not wanting to run into more of her enemies.' Can't say I blame her."

"Maybe one of you guys could talk to her and get her to come out," Payton says. "She won't say anything to us, but I think you-"she points to Ace. "-know a bit more than either of you are letting on."

Ace shrugs and opens the door. Arms folded across her body, Rose frowns and refuses to look at anybody. Mia got her a pink sarong with a sea green tank to go with it. Yes, it was true that she had gained a few parts here and there on her hips, waist and abdomen, but seemed to compliment her curves.

"Hey," is all he can say. "Are you still bothered about the Jack thing? I'll make sure he and whoever's behind this can't go near you."

He rests a hand on her shoulder, but she replies, "It's not just that Ace. It seems like everyone I've managed to get mad at me is out to get me. I mean, it's one thing when someone tries to harm the school…but when the attacks start getting personal…"

She tears up a little. "Jack doesn't even like me like that. He only did it to piss you off and hurt me. I thought when you showed up he was going to kill you."

He considers this for a moment. Jack was in college and had a few inches on him. Not to mention, he, unlike Jack wasn't one to resort to violence so easily. He wasn't going to give Jack the satisfaction of scaring his girlfriend like that, so very briefly, he pulls Rose into a tight embrace and whispers, "If it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure nobody hurts you."

"You," she murmurs with a hint of a smile. "Are just as crazy as the rest of my friends."

"I already knew that," Ace admits. "When I started hanging out with Wes."

"Out of the public eye, I presume," she teases. "Who knows what it'll do to your image if anyone important saw you with him. Or with me."

"With you? They'd be jealous."

Someone raps on the car window, signaling them to come out. A sudden holler and a splash follow soon after.

"Guess they got tired of waiting for me to come out. Shall we join them?" she asks. Then, she gets a mischievous smile on her lips. "Or should we do something else?"  
A million thoughts flash through his mind as his face grows redder with each passing second. Preps were naturally the flirty type, but Rose made his head spin.

"I got a better idea," he says, grabbing Rose's hand and leading her out of the car. Instead of heading towards the pool, they make their way towards a secluded part of the neighborhood, reaching a cliff. From there, they could see the whole town, especially their school.

"This place is beautiful," Rose gushes. Ace bites his lip to avoid replying with a cheesy one liner and simply holds her hand in his. "If you lie on your stomach, you could get a whole birds eye view from here. If you lie on your back, you could just watch the brilliant stars in the night sky."

"Just…sit there and do nothing?" he asks. Ordinarily, he despied sitting around and doing nothing, but seeing the world around him in a new light…relaxed him for once. He leans back and takes in the fresh early summer air. "I haven't sat there and did nothing since the day I came out of my mother's womb. Yes sir, by 4th grade I could negotiate with the principal for better snacks for snack time and extended recess. Although I'll admit Wes has helped me quite a bit along the way."

"You two are really close," she comments, her lips pursed in thought.

"I know. I can't believe I nearly threw all that away," he admits sheepishly. "Back then, Wes was the only one who saw me for, well, _me_."

"So in spite of you guys being almost completely different, you're like brothers," she concludes.

"True. The brother I never had. You know the saying, 'It's gonna hurt me more than it's gonna hurt you'? Well, in my case, it's kinda true. Sure, I was getting revenge, but, more importantly, I was losing valued friendships."

"Glad I talked some sense into you before it was too late then, huh?"

"Actually, I'm glad I'm not down at the Rollin's pool right now. I can here the shouting from here, and I can tell, Asher's not pleased to see the surprise guest swimming in his pool. It's been really nice…doing nothing…but I think we better bail them out of there before we all get arrested."


	17. Blackmail!

By the time they get to the pools, Asher looks so pissed if he were a cartoon character steam would be pouring out of his ears. He storms up to Ace and Rose and sneers, "I must say, I'm still surprised you have any friends after your little stunt."

"I'm surprised people like you with your whole attitude issue," Rose snaps.

"I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you, Rosie," Asher sneers. "You've effed with me on too many occasions already. Besides, this concerns your _friend_ , Bartholomew."

"Leave her out of this, Asher," he warns, steeping in front of her. "Wes and the gang just wanted to dip in the community pool."

Ace knows this comment would sting, as Asher and his families were one of the most affluent in the town.

"C-community pool?!" Asher splutters, his dark face reddening with fury and embarrassment. "I ought to strangle you, you poser!"

He lunges for Ace, but the latter manages to move to the left, causing Asher to land in the pool. Too bad that's his best dress shirt getting in the water. If he was mad before, Asher's livid now. Wes and the others take the hint and quickly leave the pool, laughing the whole way. Rose and Ace also turn to leave, but Asher grabs them both by the arms.

"You think I'll just let you two off the hook so easily…" he hisses. "This pool is camera-monitored. I have enough evidence on tape to send you and your friends to jail. But…I'll be willing to get rid of the tape if you two…do something for me in return."

Wary of Asher's intentions, Ace warily asks, "Do what?"

"Report to Statton Monday morning," he orders with a smirk. "I'll give you your assignments there. I'll send you an email on what to expect."

Asher seems to enjoy and immense amount of pleasure from having the two at his mercy. He snickers, much to Ace's annoyance. He and Rose exchange a quick glance.

"Fine," Ace agrees grimly. "But nothing too demeaning, embarrassing or illegal."

Asher releases them and taunts, "Oh, come on, Bartholomew, I have class. Can't say the same for you."

"Not in that outfit you don't," Ace retorts, referring to Asher's drenched ensemble. "Oh, and one more thing, Ash?"

"What, peon?"

Ace shoves Asher into the pool and calls out, "You're an embarrassment to new money!"

"You just bought yourself a week in hell, Cruz!"

"Hope I got a good deal on it!"

(Time Skip)

Everyone is mostly silent in the car ride home. Even Wes can't bring himself to crack a joke. At her house, Rose looks rather uncertain.

"I'm a little worried about what Asher has planned. I've dealt with him enough times to know he can't be trusted. And to me, it really sounds like he has it out for you," she says.

"What, because he lost his spot on the Council. I was doing them a favor. Asher was a jerk from Day 2," Ace scoffs. His tone softens a little. "Look, I won't let Asher take advantage of either of us."

"How?"

"I'm Ace. I'll figure something out," he answers with the all too familiar grin of confidence.

Rose smiles and says, "There's the Ace we all know and love."

She kisses him and heads inside her house. When Ace turns back, Wes's back is to him, but he could tell he was smirking from behind the wheel.

"Well," Wes says. "Look who got his mojo back."

"When have I backed down from a challenge?" he teases. Then his voice becomes more sober. "It was either this or all of us get arrested for trespassing. Besides, how bad could Asher be? He's a 15 year old twerp!"

(Time Skip)

Rose and Ace wait outside the gates of Statton High School for Asher. His e-mail told them to bring a change of clothes, pens, a clipboard, and oddly, a camera.

"I don't like this," she tells Ace. "Why would he ask us to bring these things?"

A car comes wailing down the street, stopping right in front of the two in a puddle. The two get drenched in muddy water. The window rolls down, and none other than Jack Carver beams at them.

"Have a nice shower?" He calls out. Laughter rings throughout the car. The other windows roll down revealing Lena and Asher in the passenger seats. Still laughing, Asher climbs out of the car, triumph shining in his eyes.

"Now you understand why I asked you to bring a spare set of clothes," he says, sarcastically clapping his hands. "Now, you can get the tape back from me-"

"Really? Where is it?" Rose asks excitedly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You didn't let me finish," Asher explains. "You can get the tape back after a week of being my interns. _Unpaid_ interns." Asher makes sure to emphasize the word _unpaid_ to spite Ace.

"Bite me, Asher," he snarls. Asher chuckles and hands each of them a stack of papers.

"Keep in mind, I'm into girls," he says, briefly glancing at Rose, then studying Ace's face for a reaction. "Now, I know you're more of a behind the scenes kind of guy, so you'll be helping me make some changes to the school."

"Ok, and what am I gonna do?" she asks. Asher wraps his hand around her waist. She shrieks and tries to pull away.

"You better keep your paws off her before you won't have any," Ace threatens, advancing towards him. Asher refuses to release his grip on her.

"Tsk, tsk. Possessive, are we? Rosie here's going to be my little secretary for the time being. Unless you want to back out and the tape ends up in the hands of the police?" he warns. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't do anything too horrible to her."

"If you so much as kiss her-"

"You can't do a thing about it because you'll be too busy. Now scurry off, get changed and get to work," Asher orders.

"It'll…it'll be fine Ace," Rose says, unable to look at him. "Nothing bad will happen. I promise."

Ace nods slowly and turns in the opposite direction, briskly heading off toward the boys bathroom. He furiously pounds the numbers on his cell phone.

"Hello?" Wes mumbles into the phone.

"I can't take it."

"What? Asher's being a pain already?"

"He's made it his personal mission to keep Rose away from me and I swear if he hurts her-"

"Hold the phone. Asher doesn't even like Rose like that. He's bluffing to get you mad. Don't fall for his trap," Wes cautions. "And try not to piss him off any further. If something happens to her and you caused it, I'm holding you responsible. _Comprende_?"

"Yes," he mumbles. "So basically, I'm supposed to just sit there while God knows what's happening with her?"

"Look… I'm sorry I got you into this mess. We shouldn't have gone to his pool last weekend…if anything, it should have been me in your place, but the rest of us just bailed when Asher came over.

"I don't blame you Wes. Well, I kinda blame you…"

"Hey!"

"But, I'll take one for the team if you can help me keep Rose safe. All these people: Jack, Lena, Asher. They all know they best way to hurt me is to hurt her…"

Wes is silent on the phone for a minute. "I'll see if Nishan could make some sort of device to protect her. Until then, try not to kill Asher in the time being."

"I can't make any promises…"

"Ace…"

"Fine."


	18. Bandage Over Bullet Holes

Step 1 on Asher's list was to wash the cars of the upperclassmen parked in the school parking lot. Shouldn't be too hard. Too bad there were 35 juniors and 40 seniors with vehicles. The note also says this has to be done before lunchtime, as many go out to eat. It's late August, but it's still sweltering outside. Ace decides to strip down to a tank top and jeans. Highly unprofessional, but still utilitarian. Plus, _he could bring sexy back if he really wanted to…_ Anyway, Ace heads over to the shed where they keep maintenance items and brings out a hose, a sponge, and soap. No sooner had he made it to the first car than he realizes that he's never washed a whole car by himself. In the small spaces of free time he had during the summer, he helped Wes out at his auto shop. That was a few summers ago, and he barely remembers what makes up a car. This just got a little tougher.

"Maybe I can just pour the soap on the sponge and start scrubbing the cars, then wash them off," he determines. With this process he manages to wash 25 cars in 2½ hours. Proud of his progress, he leans on a Ferrari for a small break. He manages to close his eyes for a few minutes until a car alarm jolts him out of his calming bliss.

(Flashback)

 _He slid one hand down her neck and another around her waist and she smiled at him. She pressed her lips on his lips, then his cheeks, then down his neck. Running a hand through her pink hair, he let out a small moan and bit his lip in pure ecstasy._

" _You sure you've rarely done this before?" he teased. "To me, it seems you've had a lot of experience."_

" _Not many people are as special to me as you are. I reserve the best for the best," she replied, causing him to blush madly._

" _You always seem to know what to say."_

" _And you're getting cheesy, Ace."_

" _You're the only person I can be this way around, Rosie." he said, rwapping both his arms around her._

" _Ugh," she groaned, trying to hide her bashful smile. "You are such a dork sometimes!"_

"Your _dork."  
_  
(End Flashback) _  
_

"Hey, asshole!" a boy hollers. Ace turns to see a tough-looking punk and what he assumes to be his entourage of girls storming towards him. Ace simply rolls his eyes and gets back to work. Today was not the day for a confrontation. The punk grabs his shoulder and whirls him around so he faces him. His eyes widen, but other than that give no indication of his fear.

Gritting his teeth, he inquiries, "Can I help you?" He couldn't bring himself to call the guy sir. He already had little respect for him in the first place. The punk's lips curl into a sneer.

"Pretty sure Asher hired you to wash my ride, not lean on it like some punk," he says, looking him squarely in the eye. "And what happened to referring to your superiors respectfully?"

"Say…I think I know this kid from somewhere…" one of the girls observes. "Yes! I know you! From the whole Council nonsense! You're the one who got Asher kicked out of the Council."

Seeing no point in denying it, he admits, "Yep. That was me. Now, would you kindly leave me alone so I could finish my work?"

He turns to finish washing the car, but the guy takes the bucket of soapy (and kinda dirty) water next to him and dumps it on his head. "I got your work right here," he snorts. His throngs of friends cackle around him as they leave. Instead of leaving a foot sized dent in his car, Ace takes the liberty of leaving a "nice message" on the window of his car. _I hope your principal knows you're cutting class._ Right where the principal can see it.

Just before the lunch bell rings, Ace finishes cleaning the last of the cars. Good thing too. He was starving.

(Time Skip)

Finding Rose in this large school was pretty difficult. Finally, he locates her amidst a group of classmates, mostly male. When Rose sees him, she shoves her way through the crowd and collapses in his arms. When he manages to process what just happened, he realizes Rose is sobbing silently. The classmates she pushed past are laughing at her.

"Huh? Rose, what's going on?" he asks, lifting up her face. He gasps at the sight. Besides her obvious running mascara down her cheeks, one of her eyes was bruised and several derogatory words were written on her face, arms and legs. He didn't have to ask who did this.

"She was in need of a makeover," one guy taunts. "So we did her a favor."

"Isn't she _BEAUTIFUL_?" A girl snickers.

"Don't you just want to kiss her?" another guy teases her.

Ace says nothing and takes her away from the cruel crowd. He lets her continue sobbing until she lets it all out, rubbing her back gently.

"What happened to you?"

"Asher kept getting way too friendly with me. When he tried to kiss me I punched him in the face. He got mad, and then stormed off. I ran in the opposite direction and bumped into those kids. I tried to move out of their way, but they got aggressive real quickly. I'm really sorry…"

"Don't be. It's not your fault. Asher and his goons are going to get everything that's coming to them. Pretty soon, all our problems will be over," he promises, brushing a kiss on her cheek.

"That's what you said before Payton's party and you ended up trying to kill yourself," she remarks, sniffling a little. "You know we still have to get back to work, Asher's probably looking for me, I should go…" 

"No!"

"W-what?"

"We're leaving now and getting you cleaned up," he says fiercely. "They're going to gloat about what they did to you to get a reaction out of me. And I don't intend to give them one. We'll get the tape from him later. This is worse than some trivial trespassing charge. This is assault."

He pulls her away from the high school, scowling fiercely at anyone who passed. Rose remains safely by his side, fearful and yet grateful for his presence. Ace sets her down on the bench at the bus stop and whips out his phone.

"I didn't know you could use your phone on the job," Wes jokes.

"This is _not_ a joke, Wes!"

"Whoa, calm down! What happened?"

"It's Rose…she…someone…"

"What happened to her?!" Wes was raising his voice, no longer sounding relaxed. His voice has a sharp edge. 

"Asher kept touching her…then these kids came and hurt her and making fun off her. I swear, I did nothing to provoke them…Wes?"

"I can't believe it…"

"I know. Why are people so cruel to each other?"

"No, I can't believe you left her alone!"

"I had to. He could press charges on all of us."

"Forget those charges…I thought you loved her…" Wes hisses. "How could you let this happen?"

"I…I don't know…can you just come over and get us."

"I will, and when I get there, you have some explaining to do."

"But Wes!"

Wes hangs up, leaving a dull ringing in. Ace sinks back into the bench nest to her, his eyes furrowed in frustration. He lets out a dull groan, tears threatening to flow.

"How could I let this happen?" he thinks to himself. 


	19. A Small Disagreement

**Previously…**

" _By all means be upset, but could you please stop pacing the sidewalk like a madman?" Rose pleads. "Quit blaming yourself for what happened."_

" _It's my fault, Rose. I had a bad feeling about Asher, but I left you alone with him anyway," he rants, his lips pulled into a grim frown. "This whole, 'caring about other people' thing is harder than it looks."_

" _You know Wes was just overwhelmed at the moment. I don't think he's really mad at you," Rose explains, rubbing her bruised eye. Ace glares at the black words smeared all over her body. Words that mocked her beauty. Words that picked at her weight. She didn't deserve this kind of treatment. She built up a whole school from scratch to get where she is. Rose notices him staring and shots him a look, causing him to avert his eyes in embarrassment._

" _Sorry…" he apologizes bashfully. He's about to ask her if she needs an ice pack for her eye when someone in the distance yells out to them._

" _Hey!" Asher shouts. "We had a deal, Cruz!"_

" _We did, until you broke one of the terms of our agreement," Ace firmly replies, scowling deeply. "I hope you don't assume that this was just your idea for a joke."_

" _It wasn't…" he admits. "I was just messing with Rose at first…but then…"_

 _Ace notices a slight pinkish tint in Asher's dark complexion. He raises an eyebrow in confusion and suspicion._

" _Are you-"_

" _It was nothing like that! Besides, why would I be interested in a lower class? No one was supposed to get physical. I had no idea my crew was waiting for her after she punched me and ran," he says, looking almost genuinely remorseful._

" _Why should we believe you? You're not exactly trustworthy around here," Ace accuses._

" _Neither are you, big shot!" Asher retorts, jamming a finger in the older teen's chest. "Besides, if I wanted to hurt Rose I would have done so a long time ago."_

 _He lets the words linger in the air for a while. Wes's car pulls up behind them and honks rather loudly._

" _We have to go anyway. When you want to prove that we can think of you as more than a Level 14 pH basic snake, shoot me a text. Until then, we quit," Ace says with a dismissive wave as he and Rose enter Wes's car. Wes doesn't turn around, nor does he say anything. He simply drives out of Statton and tears down the highway._

 _(Time Skip)_

" _Thanks again for coming to get us," Rose says, trying to break the silence lingering in the car. Wes simply nods, not taking his eyes off the road. Rose gets out of the car, heading towards her house._

 _Ace goes to follow her, but Wes stops him, saying, "You. Stop. We need to talk."  
_

"Ok," he obliges, sitting back in the car.

"What happened?" Wes begins curtly.

"I thought I told you already," Ace replies, growing a bit irritated. "Some kids cornered her and humiliated her after Asher got a little too friendly with her. I know I shouldn't have left her alone, but there's nothing I could've done. "

"Asher and his little friends have gone too far this time," Wes growls, gripping the steering wheel. "We _are_ going to get those punks back and we _will_ get that tape from Asher."

"Does this mean you aren't mad at me?"

"Not mad…disappointed. Very disappointed," Wes admits, his shoulders slumping a little. This wasn't the first time he had accidentally upset his best friend. Like the time he made a comment about his being in foster homes. After a swift blow to the chest, Wes apologized and warned him that was a line not to be crossed with him. Ace decides not to respond and waits for Wes to continue talking. "Now, I'm going to drop you off at my place (Since your parents would probably kill you if they found out you skipped out on your work). I swear, DO NOT LEAVE the area until I get back. Texting is ok, but don't call anyone."

"Wait…don't you want me to help you out with whatever it is your planning?" Ace asks, feeling a bit left out.

Wes's reply is a firm, "No."

"Why not?"

"You're already in a lot of trouble when you bailed from Statton. I wouldn't put it past Asher to try something horrible in retaliation. Putting you two in the same room together is just asking for more trouble. And don't worry, Rose isn't going anywhere either. Payton, Autumn and Mia are making sure of that."

"Can you at least tell me what your plan is?"

"It's kinda risky, and it may involve a bit of violence," Wes explains.

"And you're doing this, why?"

"Because me, Koh, Ezra and Julian have been itching for some action," Wes quips, the edges of his lips quirking up ever so slightly. His voice lowers a bit. "And also because…well…We came really close to losing you the last time. I don't know what I'd do if this whole nonsense ends up killing someone."

"Wow, someone's getting mushy."

"Shut up…: Wes snaps, turning fully around to face Ace. The obvious signs are there. His face is flushed, and his eyes and nose are red and puffy.

"Wes…" he dares to ask. "Have you been crying?"

"No! Yes! I don't know…I'm just really confused on how this whole thing unraveled. Where did it go from us vs. the World to having WW3 in this town," Wes chokes, clearing his throat suddenly. He chuckles in a bittersweet manner. "Rose and her emotions have really gotten to us, huh?"

"She tries to see the good in everyone, while we see the bad in everyone," Ace adds, remembering the time she visited him unexpectedly at his house and convinced him to save the school. "I bet she tried to talk down those Statton suckers too before their wailed on her like a pack of wolves."

"I'll try to forget that last comment, but that's Rose for you…Hmm…if you really want to help me…I want you to find Ava and the main instigators of that website and get them to shut down the website. Beg, bribe, threaten, do whatever it takes. And I'm fairly certain you can do it within the four walls of my home."

"What if she still says no?"

"Go to a higher authority. Go to the police, if you have to," The slacker answers, pulling up in front of the house. They head inside, and Wes makes a quick call to someone. Ace's phone buzzes with a text message.

 **RadiantRose: Wes still mad?**

 **AceofSpace: Disappointed, really. Are you ok?**

 **Radiant Rose: I got the marker off me but the black eye needs an ice pack**

 **AceofSpace: I wish there was something I could do to help.**

 **RadiantRose: Talk to Ava, face to face, without anyone in her little entourage.**

 **AceofSpace: I can't. I'm under house arrest at Wes's house.**

 **RadiantRose: Contact her then. This whole thing started w/ her, now its escalated out of control. This NEEDS to stop. For my sake and yours.**

 **AceofSpace: I'll try, but it won't be easy getting her to change her mind.**

 **RadiantRose: Remember when I got you to change your mind? Try that on her. XOXO**

If only it were that simple.


	20. WARNING: DANGER ZONE

Pulling out his laptop from his bag, he opens up his Skype and looks for a few names to call.

 **AceofSpace sent a Skype request to Ash_Cash, Avalicious, JackandTheAwesome, and RadiantRose.**

 **Ash_Cash has joined your Skype**

Asher's face appears in the screen first. He scowls at Ace, holding an ice pack to his cheek.

"You've got a lot of nerve calling me, Cruz," he sneers, shaking his free fist at him. "Expect a call from my lawyers.

"You can expect a call from mine for assault," Ace retorts, narrowing his eyes in anger, remembering Rose's appearance at lunch. "And shut up. We and a few of your friends need to talk."

 **RadiantRose has joined your Skype**

Asher opens his mouth to retort, but then Rose comes online, clutching a bag of frozen peas to her eye.

"Hey, Ace!" she greets, smiling shyly.

Ace notices Asher's demeanor shift gradually. His eyes widen, he inhales sharply, and he gives a tight lipped- smile to hide the rush of color creeping on his face. His behavior is all too clear to him. Ace can't help but take advantage of Asher's discomfort.

"You wanted to say something, Ash?" Ace asks

"S-shut up," he stammers, crossing his arms defensively. "Is this meeting almost done? You're lucky this is my free period."

"Nope, we're still waiting on a few people to join us," Ace replies, an enigmatic smirk growing on his face. "In the meantime, we can just enjoy each other's presence. Won't we?"

"With you, there's nothing to enjoy," Asher mutters, looking down at the screen impatiently. Old feelings of triumph were starting to emerge again. Rose looks between the two of them, trying to read the story behind the two of them.

 **JackandtheAwesome has joined your Skype.**

Jack comes online, looking as though he had been making out for hours. The disheveled hair and swollen lips were a dead giveaway. 

"What the hell could you possibly want?" Jack demands, with Lena right behind him.

"I thought you and Lena broke up," Rose comments.

Lena twists her lips in a half-smile and sneers, "Well, aren't you perceptive, Pinkie Pie? Jack and I got back together. We're perfect for each other. I can't say the say the same about you."

Rose's shoulders slump and she looks away, blinking rapidly.

"Leave her alone," Ace warns. "That's not what we're here for."

"Oooh...is someone getting defensive?"Jack taunts, wrapping an arm around Lena's waist. "You couldn't have the best so you settled for the rest?"

This time, it was Ace's turn to feel flustered. He wants to slug Jack right in his smug face for that slick comment. Sensing Ace's frustration Asher smirks, triumphant that the tables have turned yet again in his favor.

"Where's Ava?" Ace growls impatiently.

"Um…I got a text from Hermione, the cheerleading captain," Rose announces. "Ava never even made it to school. When she called, Ava sounded almost crazed, like she's lost her-"

 **Avalicious has joined your Skype**

Ava's face finally appears on the screen. Rose was right. She did look crazed. Red hair is scattered everywhere, her eyes are red and bleary, and her dark red lips were pulled into a snarl.

"I want nothing to do with you!" Ava screams. "You ruined my life."

"Wait, please hear me out!" Ace begs before Ava can disconnect the Skype. "I know you're upset about what happened, but this is insane. You _have_ to take down that website."

"What are you going to do about it? Kill yourself again?" she sneers. Ashton and Jack express signs of shock and horror at this statement.

"Wait…he tried to kill himself?" Jack demands. "You said it would just break him enough to make him transfer out of this town."

"That's a bit messed up, even for me," Asher comments with a frown.

"What? It's not my fault he's not as stable as everyone thinks he is!" Ava retorts, gritting her teeth. Ace senses this conversation going downhill rapidly. He decides to take a different approach.

"I hope you're aware of the legal ramifications of your actions. You could easily be put in jail for charges such as gross negligence, or even attempted murder."

"That's not true," she splutters. "I never tried to kill you!"

"Liar." Ace coughs, causing Ava to glare at him.

"What Ace means to say is that because your actions indirectly made him try to commit suicide, you're just as guilt even though you never forced the pills down his throat."

"What about Jack and Lena? They're the ones who stole your cell phones!" Ava accuses.

"Hey! We were dragged into this by your crazy self. I thought this whole thing was a joke, an act of revenge, but now you have clearly lost it," Jack snaps.

"Shut it Carver! I have enough dirt on you to put you away for decades. And Asher, don't think you're getting off scot free either," she snarls, getting more deranged by the second.

"Keep in mind, if they go down, you go down with them," Ace warns, struggling to maintain a sense of calm. "If you just end this vendetta you have against me, we can act like this never happened."

"You just expect me to _end_ a vendetta just like that?! I swear on your thick skull, Cruz I won't stop until you d-" she freezes suddenly, and her demeanor immediately softens. "You know what? Meet me at the warehouse of the car shop tonight. We'll talk face to face there."

A bit shocked by Ava's 180 flip, Ace pauses before saying, "Uhh…sure? Tonight?"

"Yep!" she chirped with an innocence that nearly convinced him that she was high or drunk on something. "Right now!"

Ace looks to Rose for an answer, but she simply shrugs. Ace reluctantly agrees, even though Wes specifically told him not to leave the house…

"Great! I'll see you there."  
 **Avalicious has logged off**

The remaining 4 are silent for a while. Their faces vary from confused to suspicious, to even fear.

"I don't think you should go to the warehouse alone, Ace," Rose warns him. "The way she suddenly went from crazy mean to crazy nice is kinda suspect. We'll find some other way to-"

 **RadiantRose has logged off**

"Rose? Rose?" Ace asks. Before she could finish her statement, her screen goes black abruptly. The only thing they could see before that was someone's hand covering her mouth and then the camera.

"Umm…was a surprise kidnapping part of the plan?" Asher asks, looking at Jack's screen.

"I thought we weren't doing anything illegal here!"Jack exclaims, his face becoming pale. "I can't go to jail, man!"

"What about me?" Lena demands. "This face does not belong in a prison!"

"We gotta do something!" Asher states, breaking into a cold sweat.

"Why do you care, Asher?" Ace challenges him. Asher glares at him, his blushing face betraying his indifference.

"I just do. Now, you better get down to that warehouse before Ava decides to do something awful to her," he snaps.

 **Ash_Cash has logged off**

 **JackandtheAawesome has logged off.**

Ace picks up his cell phone and texts Wes a distress signal.

 **AceofSpace: Wes, you have to let me out of the house! I think Rose may be in danger!**

All he gets is a picture. Upon further inspection, he sees both Rose and Wes with varying degrees of distress, backs to the wall, while a gun is pointed at them. Rose looks kinda mad, while Wes stares out into space.

 **Avalicious: You'd better get to the warehouse B4 it's too late Ace. I'd hate if something happened to either of them because you decided not to show up. ; )**


	21. New Money to New Money

**Heads Up. I deleted the chapter with the Sneak Peak in it, so if you have not read the previous chapter i.e., ends with this** " _I don't think you should go to the warehouse alone, Ace," Rose warns him. "The way she suddenly went from crazy mean to crazy nice is kinda suspect. We'll find some other way to-"_

 ** _RadiantRose has logged off_**

 _"Rose? Rose?" Ace asks. Before she could finish her statement, her screen goes black abruptly. The only thing they could see before that was someone's hand covering her mouth and then the camera._

 _"Umm…was a surprise kidnapping part of the plan?" Asher asks, looking at Jack's screen._

 _"I thought we weren't doing anything illegal here!"Jack exclaims, his face becoming pale. "I can't go to jail, man!"_

 _"What about me?" Lena demands. "This face does not belong in a prison!"_

 _"We gotta do something!" Asher states, breaking into a cold sweat._

 _"Why do you care, Asher?" Ace challenges him. Asher glares at him, his blushing face betraying his indifference._

 _"I just do. Now, you better get down to that warehouse before Ava decides to do something awful to her," he snaps._

 ** _Ash_Cash has logged off_**

 ** _JackandtheAawesome has logged off._**

 _Ace picks up his cell phone and texts Wes a distress signal._

 ** _AceofSpace: Wes, you have to let me out of the house! I think Rose may be in danger!_**

 _All he gets is a picture. Upon further inspection, he sees both Rose and Wes with varying degrees of distress, backs to the wall, while a gun is pointed at them. Rose looks kinda mad, while Wes stares out into space._

 ** _Avalicious: You'd better get to the warehouse B4 it's too late Ace. I'd hate if something happened to either of them because you decided not to show up. ; ))_**

 **I suggest going back to the previous chapter or this one will make absolutely no sense at all.**

"I knew it," Ace groans. "She was still plotting the whole time and now my best friend and girlfriend are in danger."

He gets a call from his dad. Unsure whether to pick it up or not, he presses the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Listen Bartholomew, I don't know where you are or why you're not at Statton, but you need to get home immediately. Those pills you took…they're highly unstable. You won't be able to control your emotions for much longer. Get home immediately," Mr. Cruz orders.

"Dad, my friends may be in danger. I have to-"

"You have to get home and see the therapist I hired for you," he interrupts. "Let the police handle this."

Ace sighs. The domineering personality of his father was starting to return. At least he wasn't making threats like he used to.

"You don't understand…"

"I don't think you understand," he cuts him off again, raising his voice. "I know what's best for you so if you want to risk everything you've worked for, be my guest."

"Maybe I will," Ace snaps coldly. "At least then I'd have a sense of free will."

He hangs up angrily and jams his phone into his pocket, tosses his bag over his shoulder and heads out the door, making sure to lock it first. It takes him several blocks for him to realize he has no idea where the warehouse is. It must be close to where Rose lives, being that he received the picture of her 20 minutes after she was kidnapped. A car pulls up behind him and honks loudly, nearly scaring the crap out of him. The car windows roll down, revealing Jack, Lena and Asher in the car. He narrows his eyes at them in annoyance.

"Looks like you're in need of a rescue party," Jack says with a smirk.

"I don't need your help," he says dismissively. "Get lost."

"Listen, Lover Boy. You don't know these streets like I do, with your high class life," Jack responds.

"Plus, what are you going to do, bust up in there with no weapon, no method of escape, and no nothing?" Asher points out. "Your buddy Wes isn't here to have your back. My crew got wind of him being knocked out and taken away. Said something about there being a rumble at Statton an hour after you left. The rest of your guys bailed and tried to chase him. Not even the all-powerful Julian could keep up."

"Face it. It's dangerous to go alone. You need us," Jack states assertively.

"I'll find other people to help. I don't trust you as far as I can throw you," Ace responds. "You don't get me at all."

Asher sighs and steps out of the car. He nods at Jack, who drives the car out of sight, but still nearby. Ace grimaces and turns to leave in the opposite direction, but Asher stops him.

"This may come as a shocker, but I do get you," Asher confesses. "It's not easy to be the son of a successful man. People always expect you to be the best. Everyone has to like you. If they don't…if you fail…it's an embarrassment. All the important people up there look down on us because we had to work to get to where we are. And, yes, I'm aware that I'm a jerk to lower class people. I take pleasure in doing so, because I have no choice."

"That's not the path I took."

"Yeah, you chose to manipulate people for your own goals and when you didn't get what you wanted, you tried to destroy them. Then you had to start all over again, rebuilding those bridges you burned down. I've got your number as well as you've got mine."

"What does this have to do with saving my friends?"

"It means you should accept our help, like it or not. Unless you want to waste time and risk losing them if it meant not teaming up with a rival."

"You were helping Ava torment us!"

"We thought it was a big joke. You know… for kicks! We didn't realize she had a deep-seated hatred for you…or that she had blackmail on us. At least let us temporarily bury the hatchet so we can help you."

"I…I… I don't know, maybe she won't hurt them if she wants me to show up."

"Cruz. I mean, Ace. Do you honestly think Rose would want you to give up on her? On your friend?"

"Are you trying to guilt trip me?"

"A little."

"Well, it's working."

"Just get in the car," Asher lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine. But any funny business and I walk. Got it?"

"OK. One more thing?"

"What?"

"This stays between us, Cruz. If anyone else finds out about what I just told you, I'll kill you," he threatens.

"Fine by me."


	22. InSaNity

"This doesn't look like the warehouse," Ace comments as Jack pulls up at a largue building.

"That's because it's not. It's Warren's house. We need his help," Asher explains.

"Correction. We need his dad's guns. We outnumber Ava pretty well, but she could take down the lot of us unarmed," Jack corrects. "I think you better let me do the talking, since you've probably already pissed him off, Cruz."

"We're not going to shoot anyone, are we?" Ace asks warily. The last thing he needed was a charge for assault or murder. He was already on thin ice for agreeing to team up with these three clowns. But it was the only way to get Rose and Wes back safely.

Jack pauses for a moment, considering the question. "Unless it comes down to it," he answers. "We won't. Besides, if anything does happen, we can claim it was self defense."

He honks loudly in front of the house. Max comes barreling out almost immediately with his football helmet on.

"I swear, if you Lakeside punks are out there, I swear- Oh, it's just you Jack," Max says. He gets a closer look inside the car and narrows his eyes. "What's he doing here?"

"We're on a rescue mission to save this joker's girl and best friend. They've been held hostage," Jack answers. "We kinda need back up."

"You must be really desperate if you need my help, Cruz," Max laughs. "Although, I wouldn't be too upset if something happened to them."

"Dude! This isn't some harmless prank gone wrong. This is a life or death situation. A crazed maniac roped us into helping her get revenge and is holding Rose and Wes at gunpoint," Asher scolds.

"Watch who you're talking to, twerp. I know tai kwon do," Max warns.

"Right, and I am a level 99 black belt in karate," Asher remarks sarcastically.

"There is no level 99 black belt!"

"Exactly. We need to use your dad's guns."

"Why so you can turn and frame me for murder?"

"No, because if you don't there'll be at least seven casualties. Do you really want that on your conscience, Warren?"

"Grr… Fine, but only because I have a football scholarship at stake," Max reluctantly agrees. He turns to go get the guns. "I'll be right back."

(Time Skip)

Ace's cell phone rings. The Caller ID has an unknown number, but he decides to pick it up. The voice that answers is lowered to nearly a hiss.

"Where are you?" Ava demands. "Don't you care about your friends at all?"

"I'm getting there," he says, his tone faltering. "Don't hurt them."

Ava laughs a rather patronizing laugh. She sneers, "How humorous. The boy of the family that thrives on hurting others doesn't want me to hurt his loved ones. It's a shame really. I actually liked Rose before she decided to side with you. And get this: The poor fool thinks you're in love with her. But we both know that isn't the case, is it Cruz? You'd sooner tear her heart out again than admit you return her feelings."

"That's not true," Ace retorts. He finds himself unable to utter the next three words. Not with everyone listening. Not when his heart was pounding so hard it could practically break free. His mouth goes dry. "I…I…"

"Leave him alone," he hears Rose yell from a distance. There's the sound of a gunshot and a scream. Small sobbing is heard from the other end of the phone.

"Shut up!" Ava yells. "Next time I'll aim at you two. Now, Cruz. Try not to piss me off like your 'special girl' made the mistake of doing. And do me a favor. Come alone and unarmed. No police either."

"Only if you promise to put your gun down when I get there and let Rose and Wes go," he agrees slowly breathing. His eyes have gone blank and his hand grips the cell phone tightly. "Let's not make this any worse than it already is."

"I'll put the gun down when I don't see yours," she hisses. "Hurry up. My patience is wearing thin."

He hangs up, stunned. How could it have come to this? The plan was simple. Get the Hamilton Internship. When that failed, he sought out to destroy a school, not people's lives. His stomach churns with the fear of what could happen when Ava finally lost patience. Wes's brother Matt and Koh would kill him. The few people whose trust he managed to regain would turn on him again. He would have to live with the fact that two of the closest people would die because of him.

"Keep it together, Cruz," Asher orders noticing the older teen's blanched face. "If she knows you're afraid, she'll use it to her advantage."

"I am not afraid. I'm…just worried. I can't believe I put them in danger. That's one of my main rules. No one's supposed to get physically hurt," he admits trying to fight back tears.

"No time to feel sorry for yourself Cruz!" Asher snaps. "It's game time. We're here."

Jack's car squeals to the front of the warehouse, jerking everyone forward. Nearly everyone, since they weren't wearing seatbelts, hits the car floor.

"Hey, watch it man!" Max hollers. "Learn to drive."

Jack ignores him and says, "Now get in there and distract Ava, Cruz. We'll be right behind you."

Without turning back, he made his way towards the door. Someone presses the gun in his hand but he refuses it. Before he can knock on the door, it swings open and an arm pulls him inside. He finds himself face to face with an unfamiliar person.

"Guess he does care after all," he says to someone in the darkness. He turns his attention to Ace. "I've heard of you. Bet you haven't known me though. Name's Razor. Ava's been waiting for you. Best not keep her waiting any longer."

"You're the one who kidnapped Rose and Wes…"

"Ace?" A small voice sniffs. "Is that really you?"

Another voice, most likely Wes's responds, "Of course it is. I told you he'd come though."

"Liar, you had doubts too."

"SHUT UP!" Ava's voice wails through the warehouse. Her footsteps get closer and closer. The lights flash on. Wes and Rose are huddled in a corner. Ava menaces closer. Razor just looks somewhat amused. "You've messed with me for the last time, Cruz. Now let's see what happens when I take something of yours."

She aims the gun in their direction.

"You promised you wouldn't hurt them!" Ace accuses.

"Well, I had my fingers crossed."

"You bitch!" Before he's even aware of what's happening, he breaks free from Razor's grasp and charges toward the two.

"Ace, stop!" Wes cries before the gunshots ring in the air. Amazingly, it's the 7th bullet that hits him. He makes it towards the two before he notices their expressions. Rose looks both terrified and horror. Wes looks stunned.

"Dude. You're bleeding."


	23. Unlucky Shot, Part 1

Ace grips the side of his body where the bullet hit him. When he draws his hand back, the finds to his horror that it's covered with blood. He looks up at his friends' worried expressions.

"I-it's not as bad as it looks, guys. Honest," he says, his voice shaking. He turns his attention to Ava, his eyes narrowed. "I can't believe you actually shot me."

Razor, seeing the situation would only get worse for him if he stayed, bolts out of the warehouse and leaves Ava alone with the other three teens.

Ava looks a little afraid. "I wasn't aiming for you that time," she splutters, turning beet red. "It's your fault you got in the way. Now this time hold still as I destroy the things you care about most in this world."

She aims the gun for Wes and Rose, but Ace stands in front of them protectively, in spite of the sharp pain lingering at his side. His hazel eyes lock with her emerald ones, matching her tense stare. He shakes off the slight dizziness swirling in his brain and takes a tentative step forward. Ava involuntarily gasps and holds the gun fearfully.

"Stay back! I will shoot if I have to again!" she orders.

"Don't do anything reckless, buddy," Wes cautions, removing one arm from Rose's trembling body to reach out to his friend. Upset as he was, Wes had a point. If he retaliated, she would get away with this and win. He'd probably get a prison sentence.

A small bubble of hysteria forces a chuckle out of him. "I'm not going to kill her," he says, grinning in an unnerving manner. "I'm going to make sure everyone makes it out alive tonight. Put the gun down, Ava, before you make things worse for the both of us...Ow...this kinda smarts…"

"Never! You deserve to suffer for what you did! You're just like your family," she gasps, gritting her teeth in a way almost akin to a snarl. Wes looks at Ava as if she had gone some sort of mental.

Rose jumps up to yell, "He is _nothing_ like his family, you-"

Ace raises his hand to silence her, saying softly, "I got this, Rosie. Now, what do you mean, I'm just like my family?"

"You and your family only care about yourselves," she sneers. "You take advantage of people. You get them to trust you then stab them in the back. Just like yours did to mine!"

"Wait, what?" Ace asks, a bit confused. He knew his family was known for being ruthless in business, but not to the point where someone turned homicidal and sadistic. "I thought you were just mad at me beating you at everything and nearly closing down Lakeside High."

She laughs, saying, "You thought this was about an academic rivalry? Our parents were partners in that little store you guys owned. Then, once the money really started piling in, you dumped us and left us with nothing. We even lost the lawsuit for our deserved settlement. Now guess who they pin their remaining hopes and dreams on? Me!"


	24. Unlucky Shot, Part 2

"Ava...I know you're upset and all, but he'll bleed out if you don't let us take him to a hospital," Rose pleads, but the livid cheerleader was beyond reasoning. Her red lips are pulled into a sneer, almost akin to a snarl.

"Too bad," she snaps. "You and your little friend can just die with him! I thought you were my friend. But I guess if there's one good thing about Cruz showing up at this school, it's that I've learned who my true friends are."

She lets out a tiny gasp and her lips tremble. For a second, Ace actually thought she was sincerely wounded. Wes, on the other hand, didn't seem too fazed.

"Spare us the waterworks, Edwards," Wes scoffs. "No friend of hers would ever put the lives of her loved ones on the line like you just did. Especially when she had nothing to do with this."

"Why, you...you rotten old hood rat!" Ava splutters, flushing red with rage.

"I've been called worse," Wes shrugs. "Put the gun down."

"We can work this out," Ace tries to reason with her. "Just let us go and I won't even get the police involved...if you really care about Rose, you won't let me die here."

Ava looks between Ace and Rose. He knew he had stuck a nerve with her. Maybe this might work after all.

"Rose..." she mumbles, putting the gun to her side and slowly moving her hand away from the trigger.

"It's not to late to do the right thing."

"I'm doing this for your own good!" she yells before firing from a separate gun in Ace's direction. A shockingly numbing sensation sweeps over his body and he drops to the ground in a heap.

"Ace, no!" Rose cries, clasping her hands over her mouth. Ace tries to feel where the blast hit him, but he finds himself unable to move.

"I can't move!" he gasps. "What did you do to me?!"

"Calm down, it's only a stun gun," she growls before turning to Rose and Wes, both looking at her with bewilderment. "Now get out of here. And just to make sure you don't go running to the police, I'll be taking Cruz here with me."

She drags him up to his feet and leads him to the other side of the warehouse. Ace looks towards Rose, on the verge of tears.

"Wait..." Ace mumbles. "At least let me talk to my friends...one last time."

"Fine...but make it quick," Ava grumbles reluctantly, keeping her distance but keeping an eye on him. She lets him fall, but Rose manages to catch him before he hits the ground. He looks up at her watery eyes.

"I'm fine, Rose, " he whispers in her ear. "You should go home. I don't know what Ava's planning to do to me, but at least you'll be fine."

"Ace, we've been through hell and back with each other. You can't just expect me to forget that it never happened. Like we never happened," she protests, biting her lip.

"Fine...then just remember the good times we had," he says. For e second, his mouth quirks up in a playful smirk. "Especially the really good times."

She blushes and wistfully replies, "This would be the part where you'd wrap your arms around my waist, trail kisses on my cheek, down my neck and on my collarbone."

He smiles weakly and continues, "Then I'd sneak my hands up your shirt and tickle you so much you laughed until you started trying to do the same back. Until you realized I wasn't as ticklish as you are."

"And I'd love seeing a different side to you. One that wasn't so focused on pleasing others and more like an actual teenage guy," she says, tearing up a bit. "God, you've really got me feeling some type of way this whole time."

"I have that affect on people," he says, mustering up a grin. Rose cups his cheek, tilts his head upwards, and presses her lips onto his, sending a flash of heat and electricity through his frozen body. She starts off gentle, then slowly parts his mouth and slips her tongue in.

"Gross...Hurry it up with the PDA!" Ava snaps, impatiently tapping her foot. They ignore her and take their time. He gazes at her; her caramel skin, her chocolate eyes, her wild pink hair. When she finally pulls back, she looks at him, taking him in one last time.

"Goodbye, Ace."

"Goodbye Rose." he pauses for a moment. "Iloveyou."

"What?" Her eyes widen in shock

"I said... I...love you," he manages to utter. "There, I said it. Now you never have to wonder."

"That's the first time you've said that to me," she says, smiling tearfully.

"It's the first time I've said that to anyone...who wasn't my mother."

At this point Ava has had enough and decides to pull the two apart.

"Ok, you've had your fun, now quickly say goodbye to Wes so we can get out of here," she growls.

Giving Rose another kiss goodbye, he turns his attention to Wes.

"Dude," Wes says, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't believe it's all come to this."

"We had a good run, all these years. At least I know I won't be leaving you on a bad note. Heh, unlike before," Ace remarks, struggling to regain movement of his upper body.

His voice choking a little, he coughs, snapping, " Quit saying stuff like that. You're gonna make me cry. And I will hurt you if you make me cry."

"Then don't. And thanks."

"For what?"

"For giving me a second chance when no one else would. Not sure how I would have ended up if Rose decided not to let me back in the school. "

"Manila?"

The name of the school fills him with dread and flashbacks.

"No!" He inadvertently yelps, paling again.

"Sorry. I forgot about that winter in seventh grade where your dad sent you to that boarding school for getting a B on that test."

"Yes. I hated that place and I never wanted to go back."

There's a large pause between the two male teens.

"I guess this is it."

"...Damn it, Ace. Just give me a hug before I end up bawling."

As he does, Wes's tone becomes shushed, and he produces something tiny and silver from his pocket.

"Don't ask. It's a tracking device. We will find you," he whispers, making sure Ava can't read his lips. "Whatever you do, don't let her take you out of the country. If that happens...we might as well have lost you. Keep this device safe in your pocket. Or somewhere else. Do not, for any reason, take it out or leave your clothes unattended. "

"Got it...so any thing you need to tell me now?"

"Yeah, eighth grade I made out with Ava on a dare."

"You what?!"

"Had to get that off my chest eventually. They paid me 10 dollars each."

"Heh, you never change Wes. You're unbelievable sometimes."

"I think that about you everyday, you pretentious butt hole."

"Just when I though he couldn't get anymore crude."

"Alright, time for us to get out of here, Cruz. Trust me, you won't be seeing these guys for a long time," Ava interrupts them.

"That's what you think, Ava," Ace mutters under his breath, a whisper of a smirk on his face.

"I don't know what you're smiling about, Cruz, because when I'm done with you, you're gonna wish those pills worked," Ava threatens, dragging him out of the warehouse.

"Where are you taking me?" he asks as they pass by Jack, Lena, and Asher, waiting for the ambush that would never come.

"It's kinda quiet in there," he hears Jack mention. "You think she got 'em? I heard gunshots and screaming."

"Don't jinx it!" Asher angrily scolds. "The last thing I need is for this to end up on the news."

"You know what I think? I think Ava planned this whole thing from the start. She lured Cruz here with Rose so she could kill him," Max observes.

"You know what I think? You should keep your obvious comments to yourself," Asher grumbles.

"Not as obvious as your little crush on-"

"LIAR! I don't bother myself with people like Rose," the dark-skinned male retorts.

"Dude, I never said anything ABOUT Rose," Max laughs. There's scuffling, and a smattering of hushed voices. Ava grimaces and moves forward, leading Ace towards a gray car. She gives the door in the driver's seat a swift kick, arousing a sharp yell from inside. The windows roll down, revealing an annoyed young man in his early twenties and curly red hair like Ava's.

"It's about time," he mumbles. "You're late. Mom's already got everything set up and I have a hunch someone tipped off the cops. We need to get moving now."

"Keep your shirt on, Amos. He's bleeding. It's no use if he bleeds out before we get to the airport," she snaps.

 _Airport?!_

"Wait, you shot him? Great, now you're gonna make us even more late. Geez, God knows what goes on in your head," Amos growls.

For a second, Ace notices a hurt look in Ava's eyes before she blinks back to normal.

"No cops will come if they want Cruz in one piece."

Amos considers this for a moment, then grunts, "Where's he hit?"

"A bullet to the torso and a stun gun to the abdomen, " she reports as though she were a medical examiner and not a sociopathic cheerleader.

"Call Dad," Amos orders.

"Where are you taking me?" Ace asks again, trying to wrench his wrist from her grasp. Ava ignores him and pulls out her cell phone.

"Sir?" she begins. "We got him...yes sir...there was a slight complication...i-it was an accident, sir... I know sir...I'm sorry sir...What sir... take it out?! That's so gross... I know sir...I'm sorry sir... I know better than to raise my voice...Will do...bye."

"Your dad sounds a lot like mine," Ace comments. Ava turns to face him, her face a mask of fury and humiliation.

"My dad is **_nothing_** like yours, Cruz," she fumes. "Anyway, pull up your shirt. I have to take the darn bullet out and patch up the wound."

Ace is rather hesitant to do so and defiantly crossed his arms across his chest. In anger, she tugs up the hem and forcefully yanks out the bloody bullet. This causes him to yelp in extreme agony until Ava slaps a hand over his mouth and forces him into the car.

"Geez, can't you do anything right?!" Amos scolds his sister.

"Shut up and drive, Amos," she snaps. "Cruz here's got an urgent on way ticket to Manila!"

 ** _MANILA?!_**


	25. Show, Don't Tell

Anticipating his reaction, Ava locks the car doors before Ace can bust out and run.

"What?" she says, taunting him. "You don't want to see your old friends in Manila?"

"You planned this?!"

"Not completely. It was supposed to end with you either dropping out or getting kicked out of Lakeside," Ava explains, the malicious smirk returning to her face. "I figured once you realized that no one, not even Rose, wanted you around after what you did, you'd take the hint and beat it. But then your buddy Wes decided to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"And then what happened?"

"Nothing like a bout of food poisoning to keep someone out of school for a few days," she answers, as though this were the most casual response of all.

Ace shakes his head in disbelief. "You realize I could have died from that? I mean, a vendetta is one thing, but all this-" he gestures openly. "-is insane! If my parents are the reason your life is like this, then why are you taking it out on me?"

"Simple. Get you out of the equation, and the tyrannical Cruz dynasty can no longer reign," she explains dismissively. "And no one would even think to blame me, after all. Everyone pretty much-"

" _No they don't_ ," Ace cuts her off, narrowing his eyes. "Not anymore. Unlike you, I still have people that care about me. And I don't need people like you to tell me otherwise."

"OK, newsflash, Cruz. A petty slow burn love story with some guy or girl doesn't prove anything. Especially when it's simply puppy love. Second of all, Wes still distrusts you. Why do you think he never said anything to the police about you and your-"

"I asked him not to say anything. My personal life is not to be broadcasted," Ace replies dismissively. He manages to staunch the flow of blood with his white shirt.

"A bit too late for that, kid," Amos responds, interrupting their conversation to turn on the radio.

"...looking for a young male about 16-18 years old…Filipino descent... black hair in a coif style...approximately between 5 and 6 feet...last seen at Sporting Emporium's warehouse...reported to have sustained a bullet wound to the torso...Only known by his alias, as one witness hysterically reported according to the outside camera."

There's static and Rose's tearful voice fills the car.

"Where is she taking him?!"

"Calm down, Rosie," Ace hears Asher say. "What happened to Ace?"

" _I_ know _he's not trying to hit on my Rose after I've been gone for less than 10 minutes,_ " Ace silently fumes, wishing he were still at the warehouse telling her it would be alright.

"S-she...she...shot him!" Rose sniffs. "And then she took him away...I don't know where."

"I'm sure the cops can find him. At least now you're safe."

"Get your hands off of me!" Rose screeches. "How is that supposed to make me feel any better!? For all we know, he could be left for dead while the rest of us just sit around and act like he never existed."

There's more crying, and then Wes's voice cuts in.

"We'll find him. I promise. He has a tracking device on him. We don't need any cops involved." Wes assures her. Ace pales as the second sentence sinks in. He tries to avoid Ava's claws as she tries to find the tracking device on him.

"Where is it?!" Ava demands searching every pocket on his person. "You aren't as smart as I thought you were, thinking I wouldn't find out. Now where is it?!"

"I don't know. I wasn't paying attention," he partially lies, trying to push her off of him. "You are completely violating my personal space right now."

"Liar!" she screeches. "They aren't going to find you anytime soon. By the time they get to locate you, we'll be too far away for them to do anything about it."

"Then why are you still looking for the tracking device?!"

"Better safe than sorry," she answers. Her phone buzzes, causing her to scowl. "Hmph...bribes, threats, begging...they must really want me not to take you away. Oh well. Not that Rose will miss you that much since she's with Asher now."

He laughs, "You're funny, for a dead woman. You and I both know that's not true."

Gritting her teeth at being unable to faze him, Ava continues, "Please...she'll eventually realize that you two were never meant to be. And when she does…"

Ace can't help but notice a pinkish tint the car lights expose on her face. She gazes at something on her phone, her eyes slightly softened.

"Forgive me for jumping to conclusions, but your body language suggests that my parents and the Council aren't the only reasons why you're doing all this," he comments. Ava quickly turns the phone off and huffs indignantly. Ace suddenly snatches the phone from her and turns it back on. There's a video of Ava and Rose, most likely a year or two younger. Rose's hair is its natural brown hair in pigtails. Ava actually looks...sane… genuinely happy even.

"I still can't believe you're moving to a new school," the Ava in the video laments. The younger Rose reaches out and places a hand on her arm, causing the redhead to blush.

"It's a new school started from scratch. I want to have a school where everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, can be accepted," Younger Rose declares proudly.

"I know," Younger Ava sulks. "But I'll miss you here…"

Younger Rose squeezes their hands together firmly and looks her squarely in the eye. She says, "I promise when it opens you'll be the first to know. And maybe I can get you enrolled there too."

"Aww...you're still the sweetheart I met when we were kids," Younger Ava smiles broadly, wrapping her friend in a tight embrace as the brunette giggles. Ace blinks, looking between Ava in the video and the one now turned away from him. He thinking back to the moment before she tasered him and brought him here. He remembers the sad look in her eyes as she looked at Rose, right before she pulled the trigger. How she looked on the verge of tears, saying, "I thought we were friends…"

When the two friends in the video finally pull away, Younger Ava looks away and bites her lip.

"What's wrong?" Younger Rose asks, tilting her head. "You can tell me."

Younger Ava takes a shaky breath and stammers, "Rose...I don't know how to say this… I think I...I might...Ah, screw it. What I'm trying to tell you is… I-"

Younger Ava gets cut off by Rose's rumbling stomach. The latter flushes and clasps her hands over her stomach.

"I'm so sorry about that, Ava," Younger Rose gasps, giggling a little. " I swear, my belly tends to have a mind of its own. What were you saying?"

"It's nothing important Rose," Younger Ava replies, shaking her head furiously. She must have lost never, Ace deduces.

"Are you sure?" Younger Rose asks.

"I said it's nothing!" the red head snaps, getting up to leave. Younger Rose calls after her, but she leaves and the video ends.

Ace shakes his head in disbelief and bewilderment.

"Seeing me with Rose was your breaking point,wasn't it?" he begins. "Out of all the strikes against me...this was the straw that broke the camel's back. All because you couldn't muster up the courage to tell her how you felt. This is unbelievable."

"Just stop talking!" Ava demands, turning back around to face him and take the phone back.

"And on top of that," Ace continues, ignoring her orders. "You didn't just want me gone. You wanted me dead. You wanted to make me into a scapegoat, because _by_ _fate_ I happened to be the center of your problems."

"Shut up!" she cries. " You know _nothing_ about me. She was my best friend. She was there when everything seemed to be falling apart around me. Then _you_ show up back into my life and then it's, _Ace this_ and _Ace that_. _Ace, Ace, Ace!_ And yes, I stayed by her side when you turned everyone else against her. Then she came running back to you when you came back with your little sob story. _Boo hoo, my dad smacks me around because I'm a hapless screw up._ Then she forgot all about me, getting all caught up in your drama."

Ace's eyes narrow significantly. His voice dripping with venom, he hisses, "Rose hasn't forgotten you at all. And now… she never will."


	26. Blame Game

By the time Amos's car squeals to a stop, they are in front of a dimly lit hotel. The bleeding may have stopped, but the forceful way Ava yanked the bullet out of Ace left a lingering pain in his side. He hopes he doesn't catch an infection at the end of this ordeal.

Amos picks up a walkie-talkie from the floor of the car and mutters, "We're here, sir. Cruz poses a flight risk, as his friends have planted a tracking device on him that has not been located yet, and the radio matches his description to a T. And, well...Ava did a lousy job of taking out the bullet…"

A static filled voice answers in response. Ava scowls at the back of Amos's head. Ace moves his hand towards his pocket to take out his phone, then freezes. Taking the phone out now would only cause more trouble later.

"Do you really have to do this?" he finds himself asking. "If I'm gone, your classmates would never forgive you. _Rose_ would never forgive you. You saw the look on her face when we left the warehouse. You heard her voice on the radio, practically hysterical and heartbroken."

" **You** think you're still the center or her universe," she snaps.

"And YOU clearly don't love her as much as you claim. How could you?" he retorts, getting in her face. "You started that website to take me down. Did you even realize or care you were hurting her in the process?"

"That was a mistake on my part," she admits, crossing her arms.

"Or how about when you and her started fighting at the party, not to mention letting her _eat that stupid cupcake_ when you of all people knew she was gluten intolerant?" he accuses.

"First of all, she swung at me first. If she wasn't so blinded by your fake charm, she'd have washed her hands if you when she had the chance,"

"Yo! Both of you shut up!" Amos interrupts, slamming his hand on the dashboard. "Anything goes south and I'm holding BOTH of you responsible. Now get in the darn motel."

* * *

"Behave normally like your life depends on it, Cruz. 'Cause it does," Ava orders, clutching his wrist tightly. Her sharp nails are sure to leave angry red marks later on.

"I would, if you'd stop sinking your nails into my wrist," he hisses back.

"How else can I be sure you won't make a run for it as soon as you get the chance?" she says with a dismissive wave of her free hand. "Face it, Cruz. You're finished."

They make their way into a motel room on the top floor. Amos shuts the door and locks it.

Flopping on the bed, he orders, "Call a nearby pizza place. I haven't eaten since this afternoon."

Ava rolls her eyes and punches in the number or a local pizzeria, ordering two large cheese pizzas and a large bottle of soda.

"It's coming in 10 minutes," Ava announces to no one in particular. "Where's Dad?"

"At the hotel near the airport," Amos grunts. "Where we would have been already if you hadn't made us late."

Ava winces, a hurt look in her eyes before glaring fiercely at Ace. Ace clenches his fists, struggling to hold his temper.

"For what it's worth, Ava," he begins, unable to look back into her vindictive eyes. "I never intended for any of this to happen. I never realized that all you really wanted was Rose... or how close you two were before I came into the picture."

Ava is silent for a beat.

"Of course you didn't," she mutters, narrowing her eyes at them. "You only know Rose now, not Rose a year and 10-15 pounds ago. You only know of the Rose everyone adores, not the Rose that kids mercilessly teased because of her weight. Those rotten kids at our old school didn't care that she was a sweetheart or that she could sing like an angel. They cared about making those extra pounds on her body their target. Where were you when she sat by herself at lunch, picking at her food out of fear of becoming fatter? Where were you when a group of girls cornered her into the janitor's closet, took out permanent markers and started writing on her skin so they could outline her 'fat areas'? _**YOU**_ were at precious Kepler, stepping on everyone else for your own gain."

At this point, Ace's breath is coming out in short bursts.

" _I can't believe Rose never told me about this before…_ "he thinks. " _I can't believe I'm saying this...but Ava's right. I've been so caught up in my own problems that I never saw hers. No wonder Rose never talked to me about things like this. She deserves better..._ "

"I need to use the bathroom," he says, brushing past her quickly and shutting the door behind him. He tries to steady his breathing. Images of Rose flash before his eyes.

Rose asking him to lunch.

Rose hugging him after he apologizes to her and her friends.

Rose kissing his forehead the first time he ended up in the hospital.

Rose crying after she thought he had betrayed her again.

Rose holding his head in her lap, trying to soothe him when he got an attack of food poisoning.

Rose holding him close in the dark closet during 7 Minutes in heaven.

Rose squeezing his hand tightly after he was admitted into the hospital the second time when he downed a bottle of pills.

Rose watching the starry night sky with him.

Rose watching with horror as the bullet struck his torso.

Rose kissing him one last time before he was abducted.

The memories make him smile, and he calms down a little until he thinks of the last thing Ava said to him.

" _Where were you when a group of girls cornered her into the janitor's closet, took out permanent markers and started writing on her skin so they could outline her 'fat areas'?_ "

He remembers the incident yesterday with Asher and his goons. How they swarmed her, laughing. How they taunted her as she sobbed into his chest. Those ugly, black words written on her body...

" _She was in need of a makeover, so we gave her one_."

" _Isn't she BEAUTIFUL?_ "

" _Don't you just want to KISS her?_ "

Their voices rattle in his head. His knees buckle, causing him to grip the cool surface of the sink counter. He left her alone. He had a bad feeling about doing so, but the odds we stacked against them. Take the risk or face jail time. He made the wrong choice. It was _his_ fault.

"I'm so sorry, Rose," he whispers, before covering his face with his hands in regret. The sound of sharp sniffling fills the room as his body shakes with mostly quiet sobs. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices the door is open just a bit. Ava's voice is unmistakably clear.

"We did it," she says triumphantly. "We broke him."


	27. Pizza Girls, Nightmares and Texting

Chapter 26:

 **Warning: this chapter goes a bit into Rose's backstops and contains some messed up stuff.**

Ace manages to pull himself together and wash his face in the sink. He scowls at letting Ava get the better of his emotions. This was exactly what she wanted.

"They'll find me," he assures himself in a shaky breath. In the meantime, he couldn't afford to have anymore mini-meltdowns like that.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," he hears someone outside the door. "While you're in there you might as well take a shower. My whole car smells like blood and sweat!"

Wes warned him about leaving his clothes out in the open, especially since he couldn't remember where exactly he put the tracking device. He takes a whiff of his shirt and gags. ON second thought, he decides to lock the bathroom door just to be safe. He takes off his shirt, then freezes when he catches a glance at himself in the mirror. Various patches of black and blue paint his body and line his arms. The angry, gaping bullet hole sticks out the most within the mess. Shaking his head in disgust, he removes the rest of his clothes and steps into the shower.

The moment Ace steps out of the bathroom, Ava brushes past him, muttering, "Took you long enough, crybaby."

Amos is half asleep on one of the beds, shifting indolently. Someone knocks on the door loudly.

"Pizza girl," the voice chirps.

"If I didn't know any better, I could have sworn that girl sounded a lot like Rose," Ace thinks. He glances at Amos, who waves one of his hands dismissively.

"Just get the pizza," he mumbles, not bothering to pick his head up. "But don't even think about trying to escape."

When he opens the door, a caramel-skinned girl thrusts the pizza boxes at him. The sudden movement jerks the hat resting on her head slightly backwards, revealing what appears to be a strand of pink hair.

"Ro-?" the girl covers his mouth with her hand before he can finish.

"Shh!" the girl presses a finger to her lips. Then she continues, louder. "I can't have my boss thinking I'm handing out free pizzas to my friends again, so you need to pay up."

"Is it really you?" he says quietly. The girl gives him a sharp look and gestures for him to come closer. She slips a small black box in the sleeve of his shirt. Before Ace can react, she grips one of his wrists and pulls him into a firm kiss. Forgetting where he was at the moment, he melts a little into the exchange, putting a hand on her cheek. The sudden stop of the shower stream jerks them back into reality. "Rose" flushes and lets go of his wrists. Her movements shift the cap on her head, causing it to fall off completely. Ace picks it up and places it back on top of her head.

"You dropped this, 'ma'am'. Nice pink hair by the way. Looks a lot like my girlfriend's," he says. "Rose" rolls her eyes and stifles a giggle.

"The pizza here yet?" he hears Ava ask. "Rose" frowns, a fretful expression replacing her formerly playful disposition. Her eyes lock with his own, and for a second Ace worries she'll assume he was crying 10 minutes ago. She opens her mouth to speak, but shakes her head.

"Special delivery," is all she says before hurrying off.

"Wait!" he finds himself calling out.

"Wait, what?" someone behind him asks.

"I'm sorry I made you go through your old school experiences. I'm sorry I got you into this mess in the first place. I-"

"I was going to give her a tip," he says, trying to make an excuse for his blushing face. "But she left by the time I came back."

Ava scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Some people never change."

Any amorous feeling he had vanish when he turns to face her.

"What is wrong with you?" he seethes, jabbing a finger in her face. Ava's countenance shrinks immediately. "Isn't it enough you're sending me to Manila? Isn't it enough that I'll never see my best friend or my girlfriend ever again because one mistake I made ended up ruining me? I'm sorry that happened to Rose, and I'm sorry I made her relive that awful moment, but that doesn't excuse what you're doing to all of us."

"It doesn't? Because last time I checked, losing an internship doesn't excuse trying to close down a school. Especially a school that welcomed you with open arms."

"Does anything that comes from your mouth prove to be genuine?"

"It's all true, Cruz. But you don't have to take my word for it. Speaking of which, word on the street is that night of the district meeting wasn't the first time your dad lashed out at you. Some people say it happened as early as freshman year."

"It's not going to work. If you think you can mess with me again by bringing up my past, you're gonna have to do better than that." he asserts and YET you still think I'm still the same person you met years ago. Rose helped me see things differently. I grew up thinking that I had to measure up to my dad's impossible standards, and that I didn't need anyone by my side. I wouldn't be who I am now it wasn't for her."

"A dead man," she has the nerve to hiss. "You wouldn't be a dead man if it wasn't for her being too naive for her own good."

"Why, I ought to-"

"Shut up and eat your pizza, you two," Amos grumbles, his voice muffled by the pillows. "I'm not having the cops come down here and ruin everything."

Ava huffs indignantly and snatches a slice from the box. Ace does the same, making sure to distance himself from her as much as possible.

That night, Ace has trouble sleeping. Between Rose's impromptu visit and his meltdown, his mind is filled with the day's events. It had been a quiet ride in the car after he found out about Ava's crush on Rose. Then, in an act of vengeance, she struck back, making sure to attack an extremely sore spot. Then Rose, as a poorly disguised pizza girl, managed to find out exactly where he was. But why didn't they take the small window of opportunity to escape right then and there? Because they were too busy wrapped in each other's presence that they failed to take advantage. He isn't even sure if there'll be another opportunity to try again later.

 _In his dream, Ace stands in front of an unfamiliar high school. Up ahead, he sees two very familiar girls heading up the stairs._

 _"This must be Rose's old high school before Lakeside High," he thinks._

 _"I knew eating all that pizza and ice cream was a bad idea," Rose complains, holding her stomach. "I must really look like a whale now. I feel like one."_

 _" Aw, you're just worried that those jerks are gonna make fun of you. Trust me, they'll have to be more creative to get to your big strong self," Ava assures her, squeezing her shoulder. Rose smiles faintly and starts to blush._

 _"Big is right," someone sneers from behind them. A girl with straight black hair and piecing green eyes snatches a lock of Rose's (then brown) hair and jerks it back, giving Rose whiplash. "When's the food baby due this time?"_

 _"It's too early in the morning for this. Get lost, Elena," Ava asserts. Elena pushes her aside and viciously pinches Rose's side. Rose winces in pain._

 _"Gee, you've gotten a lot bigger since last week," she taunts, jabbing her fingers in her flesh. She smirks, clearly enjoying Rose's discomfort. "At this rate, it won't be too long before you start to show. Oh, wait. You already have."_

 _Rose grabs Elena's hand and yanks it away from her body, snapping," I'd rather be a food baby mama than a bag of bones like you."_

 _Elena opens her mouth to retort, but stops suddenly. Her lips curl into a sneaky smirk._

 _"Have it your way, Food Baby Mama," she casually responds, slapping Rose's stomach in the process._

 _Rose yelps and tries to lunge at her, but Ava holds her back, saying, "It's not worth it. Let her go. For now..."_

 _Elena huffs and sashays off. Rose's face falls and she buries her head in her hands._

 _"She's gonna kill me," Rose groans. "And I have a stomachache now. "_

 _"You did the right thing, Rose," Ava says, wrapping a hand around her shoulders. "Now let's get to class."_

 _Ace realizes he's been staring at them for far too long and feels he is invading their lives. If this is what they did to her when her friend is around, what could they be doing when she's alone? He shudders at the thought. He decides to stakeout for a while and watch her. Nothing really happens, except the taunting and a guy who gets a little too close to Rose for comfort._

 _At lunch time, Elena and a group of guys and girls surround Rose's table. If Rose is aware of their presence, she doesn't show it. Elena slides her skinny legs into the seat next to her. Rose says nothing as Elena eyes her lunch tray with disgust._

 _"That's a lot of food for one person, Rose. Then again, you are eating for two," she comments, eying her up and down. " Doesn't it bother you, having this fat hang all on your body? You could definitely stand to lose a few pounds."_

 _Rose ignores her and continues eating. One of the guys steals the fork from her and sneers, "Hey, Chunky Monkey. She's giving you helpful advice, so the least you can do is listen. "_

 _"It's fine, Nader. I think Rose just needs a proper explanation," Elena cuts in, winking deviously. Rose catches this exchange and tries to make a run for it, but the group surrounds her and drags out of the cafeteria._

 _"Let go of her!" Ace yells. When no one even acknowledges him, he realizes he must be invisible to the students in this dream. He follows them out, hot on their heels. When they make it to the janitors closet, it becomes all too clear what they were going to do to her and he was powerless against them._

 _Rose thrashes and flails wildly, but this only made them laugh and hold her tighter. Elena takes out her cell phone and turns on the camera._

 _"Maybe this will help you get a clearer picture. Get me a marker," she orders, pulling up Rose's shirt. "Whoa. It's even worse than I thought. We clearly have our work cut out for us, don't we Rose?"_

 _Someone hands her a black marker. Rose manages to kick the hand, knocking the marker out of the way. The person curses and picks the marker back up. Elena scowls condescendingly at Rose._

 _"I was just going to write fat, but fat doesn't begin to cover it."_

 _The others in the group call out names._

 _"Pig!"_

 _"Morbidly Obese!"_

 _"Cow!"_

 _"Bloated Obscenity"_

 _"Hey, I was gonna say that!"_

 _"Thunder Thighs!"_

 _"Porky!"_

 _"Bubble Gut!"_

 _Ace watches Rose hopelessly hang her head in despair. He reaches out to grab her, but his hand slips right through her. The entire experience is surreal. The group has started fighting over the marker, fighting over who gets to mark her first. Elena holds the marker away from all of them._

 _"I got a better idea, guys," she interrupts. "How about instead of just marking her stomach, we write on the rest of her...problem areas."_

 _They agree and proceed to hold her down while they took turns writing on her with the black marker. Bloated obscenity and bubble gut on her stomach. Pig on her lower back. Thunder thighs on her thighs. Cow on her chest. Porky on her hips. Tears stream down her chubby cheeks as they laugh and take photos._

 _"#RoastRose'sRolls is already trending," one announces._

 _"This video is getting thousands of hits as we speak," Elena brags._

 _For a moment, Ace swears he locks eyes with Rose. Rose kicks the phone out of Elena's hands and breaks free from her tormentors. Panting heavily, she tugs her clothes back on and dashes to the girl's bathroom. Ace stays close to the door, hearing the faint sounds of retching and sobbing. Minutes later, she steps out a complete mess. Her hair is seriously disheveled, her clothes are stretched out and torn. She clutches her stomach, her face crumpled as though she was going to puke. Ava, coming down the hall, rushes to her and ambushes her with a hug._

 _"Rosie, you look like crap. Who did this to you?" She demands. "I'll make them pay if it's the last thing I do."_

 _Rose tries to answer, but her incoherent sobbing makes her difficult to understand. Ava takes her by the hand and leads her to a park bench._

 _"I went to our table but I never saw you there. I got worried when I saw Elena and her posse leave the cafeteria. You managed to get away before they could do anything, right?..."_

 _Rose shakes her head and sniffs._

 _"What happened?" Ava asks. Rose hesitates, then lifts up her shirt enough to expose her stomach. Ava gasps, shock filling her eyes. "That's...that's... Just awful! This is sick! How could they write these awful things on you?!"_

 _"It's viral," Rose sniffs, pulling out her cell phone and showing her the videos._

 _"Rose... You can't actually believe what they're saying is true?" Ava says, hugging her tightly. "Big is beautiful."_

 _"You say that everyday. And I don't feel beautiful at all. I feel like a bloated mess."_

 _"Stop saying that, Rose," Ava orders, looking her in the eye. "You're perfect."_

 _For a moment, they just stand there, barely inches between their faces. Ava's face is flushed. Taking a shaky breath, she leans in and kisses Rose. Rose is surprised at first, but closes her eyes and melts into the kiss. Ava is the one who breaks apart first._

 _"I-I'm sorry...that was completely inappropriate for me to do, especially with you all messed up," Ava stammers, turning a beet red. She tries putting some strands of Rose's hair back into place. Rose grasps her arm and gently pulls it away._

 _"It's fine," Rose says. "I kinda needed that. Thanks for snapping me out of that...Ava, do you ... do you have a ...crush on ...me?"_

 _The sudden question takes Ava aback._

 _"I just wanted to show you that...you're an amazing person, and you needed to believe that," Ava answers quickly. Rose quirks her eye brows up in confusion. Her eyes catch something in the distance. She pales. Elena and her friends storm up to them._

 _"So this is the thanks I get for trying to help you out, Rose?" Elena sneers. "You go running over to your little chubby chaser friend? Ungrateful brat. We aren't finished yet."_

 _She tugs at Rose's arm, but Rose moves away from her. The same boy who referred to her as Chunky Monkey holds her down on the bench as the others hold Ava back._

 _"Let go of her!" Ava yells, but they laugh and resume their torture. They draw big, ugly circles on her body, on her "problem areas"_

 _"Quit squirming, we're trying to help you. BTW, love handles are not looking lovely. " Elena comments. "Especially with that bubble gut and bubble butt combo you've got going on."_

 _Ace finds himself unable to watch any more and takes off._

 _(End Dream )_

Ace bolts straight up from the couch, drenched in sweat.

"Did that really happen?" Ace wonders, running a hand through his hair. He remembers the black box Rose gave him and opens it. It's a burner phone. He flips it open and sees Wes and Rose's phone numbers already programmed in it. He decides to text Rose.

 **Ace: Rose? We need to talk.**

It takes a while, but Rose finally responds.

 **RadiantRose: OMG, you're still alive! What about?**

 **Ace: The year before Lakeside High opened.**

 **RadiantRose: what...what about it?**

 **Ace: I found out about what happened. What those kids did to you at your old high school.**

 **RadiantRose: how the heck did you find out??!?**

 **Ace: Ava told me. She wanted me to think it was my fault we ended up here in the first place. Is it...is it true?**

 **RadiantRose: ...yes. Its all true.**

 **Ace: The marker? The closet? Elena?**

 **RadiantRose: Who's Elena?**

 **Ace: Sorry, I just had a nightmare. She looked like an Elena to me. The main girl bully. She kept touching you and making fun of your weight.**

 **RadiantRose: A nightmare? About what happened?**

 **Ace: Yes.**

 **RadiantRose: Shockingly accurate. And yeah, I was kinda messed up about what happened for. That's part of the reason I had to keep Lakeside High open no matter what.**

 **Ace: Rose...I'm so sorry.**

 **RadiantRose: For what?**

 **Ace: For almost ruining your life, for making you relive that awful moment, for leaving you alone with Asher and those kids...for not being able to protect you after I promised I would.**

 **RadiantRose: Ace... When I came by with the pizza, I saw the look in your eyes. It's not your fault. Yes, I am upset, but I don't blame you for what happened. I knew what I was getting into.**

 **Ace: Rose...**

 **RadiantRose: I'm serious, Ace. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to worry you anymore than you already were.**

 **Ace: I thought you kept this from me because you still couldn't trust me.**

 **RadiantRose: I thought we moved past this. (-_-;)**

 **Ace: Force of Habit. You ok?**

 **RadiantRose: Yeah. We went to the principal after the incident, but she simply suspended them for a few days. I'm glad it was the end of the year then. That's when I founded Lakeside High. I hope I never see any of their faces again.**

 **Ace: I know what I'd do if I saw them again.**

 **RadiantRose: You'd whisk me away to a magical island where we'd live happily ever after?**

 **Ace: I was thinking along the lines of legal action. And maybe a hospital visit.**

 **RadiantRose: Ace! :O**

 **Ace: I'm kidding. Mostly. By the way, what were you and Ava like before the Council was formed?**

 **RadiantRose: Ava...changed after freshman year.**

 **Ace: How so?**

 **RadiantRose: We were still friends and we still supported each other...but something was different. She didn't trust the students at Lakeside at first. She'd get defensive if I question her about her feelings. Then she started dating different guys and girls, barely any of them lasting more than 2 weeks. Somehow, someway, I suspected she might of had a...a crush on me.**

 **Ace: Yeah, about that...**

 **RadiantRose: She did?!**

 **Ace: She still does. Everything else was just an accessory for her vendetta. With me out of the picture, at least she'd have you.**

 **RadiantRose: Gee...I can't believe she never told me...Ace, don't get mad at me for saying this, but I think I might have liked her back. I probably don't now since I've moved on, but...it kinda sucks. We kissed once too.**

 **Ace: I see... On the lips?**

 **RadiantRose: It was a small peck, jelly, much? ;P**

Yes, a little jelly.

 **Ace: Not really. Where are you guys now?**

 **RadiantRose: See, uh...Wes and I... we kinda went our separate ways after the pizza thing.**

 **Ace: Why, because we kissed?**

 **RadiantRose: Yeah...that wasn't necessarily part of the plan. We were supposed to distract Ava while you escaped through the window. But then you answered the door and then...well, you know the rest. He got upset and yelled at me about letting my emotions get in the way again. I snapped at him, telling him that he could come save you his own way, and he stormed off. I swear, sometimes I wish I wasn't so...weak.**

 **Ace: What do you mean?**

 **RadiantRose: Don't play dumb. You said it yourself before. I'm too soft for my own good. Every other person thinks with their minds. I'm stuck thinking with my heart.**

He'd hate to admit it, but she was right.

 **Ace: You know...that's not always a bad thing. You know if it wasn't for you, Lakeside High wouldn't even be here now. I never forgot that.**

 **Rose: I know, its kinda shocking, especially with my whole backstory and all.**

 **Ace: Aww...want me to kiss your boo-boos and make it all better?**

He can't believe he just texted that.

 **RadiantRose: You sure you weren't shot in the head? ;D**

He doesn't know why, but this rubs him in the wrong way.

 **Ace: Well, exCUSE me for not being Joe Romance, especially with a freaking bullet hole in my torso, which I earned trying to save your life!**

Ace realizes that he may have overreacted, but by the time he does the text is already sent.

 **RadiantRose:...**

 **Ace: I didn't mean it like that.**

 **RadiantRose: ...it's fine. Don't worry about it. I'm just being oversensitive. Look, maybe we should call it a night. You get some rest. I'll see if I can contact Wes.**

 **Ace: Do you know where he is?**

 **RadiantRose: He left with his car. I left with my motorcycle.**

 **Ace: You have a motorcycle?**

 **RadiantRose: That's not my point! He won't answer my texts or phone calls. Maybe you can speak to him.**

 **Ace: I'll try.**

He texts Wes's number and waits for a response.

 **WildWes: Lemme guess. Rose told you to text me. Tell her I dont need her help and Im not apologizing for what I said.**

 **Ace: Look, I'm not trying to take sides, but there's something you don't know about Rose.**

 **WildWes: OH rlly? What?**

 **Ace: There's a reason Rose forgot about the plan...**

 **WildWes: Shes 2 soft. U and I both know that already.**

 **Ace: No, Wes. It has to do with what happened at Statton yesterday.**

 **WildWes: Talk to me.**

 **Ace: It all started after I'd called you that morning...**


	28. Motorcycle Misfortune

After Ace finishes retelling the whole story, it takes Wes quite a while to respond.

 **WildWes: I...I dont get it. how could someone as sweet and cheery as Rose have gone thru something that awful?**

 **Ace: The kids at her old school were brutal. I think...I think the reason we forgot about the plan was because we were scared of losing the thing that kept us together. I wanted to feel that there was more to life than being the best. She wanted to feel loved.**

 **WildWes: so the rest of us werent good enough?!**

 **Ace: Calm down, that's not what I meant. I mean she wanted to have with me what Payton and Ezra have. What Nishan and Sakura are trying to have. Whatever you and Koh...have.**

 **WildWes: its complicated. its more of a...frenemance. ( friend/enemy/romance)**

He can't help but snicker inwardly at the text. Half the time he couldn't tell whether he and Koh were fighting, flirting, or fooling around.

 **Ace: Anyway, what I'm trying to say is...I almost lost hope. I thought Rose blamed me for what happened to her.**

 **WildWes: R U kidding? we went looking for you as early as 5 in the morning. then there was a bug in the tracking system. she panicked and mia had to calm her down by slapping her. then as soon as we found your location she took off on her motorcycle. U should have seen the look on her face, saying "I havent lost a student yet and Im not planning to now!"**

He blushes a little.

 **Ace: She really did and said that?**

 **WildWes: Better believe it.**

 **Ace: Wish I could have done more to help her.**

 **WildWes: U took a bullet for her, didnt u? :)**

 **Ace: That was just me being stupid and reckless.**

 **WildWes: Same diff.**

 **Ace: That makes no sense!**

 **WildWes: Anyway, i guess i owe rose a apology.**

 **Ace: You think?**

 **WildWes: vry funny. Still @ the motel of hell?**

 **Ace: Yeah, but I have feeling we won't be here for long. The airport's a few hours away and I think Ava's suspicious. Look, if I get sent away, make sure Rose is OK, will you?**

 **WildWes: Obviously. But stay positive, alright? 'Night.**

 **Ace: Night.**

He turns off the cell phone and slips it away. He drifts off into a dreamless sleep.

"WAKE UP!" He feels the sting of hand slapping his face. He jolts awake, looking dead into Ava's face with a venomous glare. His eyes trail to some device in her hand. The burner phone! Ava is livid, sneering into his face. He blinks, trying to determine if this was just another nightmare. It isn't, and he's a dead man.

"What?" he mumbles, feigning ignorance.

"Explain the meaning of this!" she rages, opening the phone and showing Ace last night's text messages. He pales as her face darkens with fury. "How could...no, how DARE you tell Rose how I felt about her?!"

"She had a right to know," Ace argues, trying to grab the burner phone back. She jerks it away from him. "You're killing her!"

"Not as much as I'm gonna kill you!" she lunges for him, but Amos pulls her back.

"Take it easy, we're leaving now," Amos orders, clutching his enraged sister. "I'm surprised Cruz didn't take the opportunity to run last night."

Ava grabs his wrist, dragging him along. He digs his feet into the rug, trying to fight back. She pulls him closer, hissing, "Cause a scene and it'll be the last thing you do."

Outside, Amos's car revs to life. They drive off into the early morning sky.

"Just few more hours and this will all be over," Ava murmurs, looking out of the window.

"Just a few more hours and I'm a goner," Ace thinks, balling his hands into fists. He hears the constant vibrations of the burner phone. Ava scowls fiercely, occasionally shooting a glare at Ace. Ace gives her an equally scathing look.

"It's a shame really," Ava comments to no one in particular. "Rose actually thought you and I could be friends. As if!"

"Yeah, who wants to be friends with someone as possessive and selfish as you?" he retorts, blowing her off. He turns on his side, trying to catch some more sleep.

"This dang motorcycle in front of me is getting on my last nerves," he wakes up to hear Amos growl. He looks up, a biker in a pink motorcycle swerves in and out of the lanes. The biker catches Ace's eye and waves. The helmet covers his/her entire head, so the face is hidden. Amos slams his palm on the steering wheel. "Get on the right lane or get off the road!"

The biker makes a rude gesture, causing Amos to swear loudly. He speeds up, but the bike is right next to him. The motorcycle speeds up, gets in front of the car, and stops. Amos slams on the breaks, but he's too late. The biker throws himself/herself out of the motorcycle, tumbling onto the road. Amos's car collides with the motorcycle, causing it to tip over and fall on the biker.

"Oh my gosh!" Ace gasps, throwing open the door and checking out the scene. Poor biker was trapped underneath the vehicle. "Help me get this thing up!"

Ava reluctantly helps him lift it up. He takes off the biker's helmet and comes face to face with an unconscious Rose. He gasps as though all the air were sucked out of him.

"Rose? Rose!?" He gently shakes her, but doesn't get a response. "Call 911!"

 **AceofSpace: We need help. Its Rose. There was an accident...she's not moving!**

 **WildWes: What happened to your burner phone? Nvr mnd. Where are you?**

 **AceofSpace: A few hours from the hospital, along Route 33. Hurry!**

 **WildWes: Omw. Dont leave her side.**

 **AceofSpace: Not a chance.**

He holds Rose carefully in his arms, gently rocking her as as he waits for either Wes or the ambulance to arrive. Whichever came first. She looks practically lifeless, with bruises and cuts all over her skin and clothes.

"She'll be fine...she'll be fine...Oh God, what if she won't be fine? Where's the ambulance?!"

Running low in self-control, he turns on Ava.

"This is all your fault, Ava!"

She turns red and splutters, "My fault? I wasn't the one who ran her over!"

"She wouldn't have put her motorcycle in front of us like that to save me if you hadn't brought us here in the first place!" he yells at her, silencing her with an icy glare. He glances frequently between Rose and the road. "Where is that ambulance?!"

Trying to steady his nerves, he intertwines his fingers with Rose's limp ones, firmly squeezing them in the hopes she'd wake up. He hears the familiar sound of tires squealing to a stop and car doors swinging open and slamming shut.

"Rosebud!" A lean young man with brown hair and skin like Rose's yells as they get closer. "Little R, can you hear me?"

"She's out cold, Ross," Wes answers, kneeling on the ground to get a better look at Rose. "Ace, this is Rose's adoptive older brother, Ross. Ross, this is Rose's boyfriend."

""Technically, she's the adopted one," Ross corrects. "And Rose never told me about any boyfriend…"

"Are we really having this conversation now?" Wes rolls his eyes,trying to hide the strain in his voice . "Anyway, Ross here is a Paramedic."

"The ambulance should be here in a few minutes, let me take a look at her," Ross instructs. Ace reluctantly hands her over to her brother. While Ross tends to her, the remaining teens wait for the ambulance.

"You look off, Wes," Ace comments, observing the slacker's hasty glances. "What's up?"

"Yesterday, I said somethings to her I probably shouldn't have," Wes admits. "And if something happens to her, it would really suck for those to be the last words I said to her."

"What did you say?"

"You don't want to know."

The faint sounds of ambulance sirens grow stronger. Amos's car suddenly peels off into the night, leaving Ava stranded.

"Amos, you idiot! You forgot about me!" Ava screeches after him, but the car is long gone.

As they load Rose into the ambulance, Ross looks rather grim.

"She's gonna be fine, right?" Wes asks.

Ross's eyes soften. His face contorts into a sad frown.

"No promises, dude."


	29. Coming Home

Chapter 28:

"Everybody get in," Wes orders as the ambulance drives away. "We'll follow them to the hospital and… hope for the best."

"Everyone?" Ace scoffs, glaring at Ava fiercely.

Wes takes a deep breath and replies, " Better take her with us to avoid any more surprises. Now get. In. The. Car. NOW."

The threatening undertone is all the prodding they needed. Wes's car wails down the highway.

"Please let Rose be ok," he silently prays over and over in his head.

"Cruz." Ava's voice breaks his thoughts. "For what it's worth, I'm really sorry about Rose."

He looks at her like she'd just kicked a lollipop out if a child's hand. His face reddens with fury. Without warning, he lashes out on her a second time.

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better! Nothing like a FLIMSY apology to make up for the fact that you framed me, poisoned me, tried to kill me and kidnapped me," he hisses, getting in her face. " Oh, and let's not forget about how you pretty much stomped Rose's heart into pieces. I swear, if she doesn't make it I'll...I'll…"

He trails off, unsure if he's willing to fulfill that promise. He jams his hands into his pockets and looks away, scowling deeply.

"I just wanted her to love me…"Ava says softy.

"Love you?" He murmurs. "Are you kidding me? No wonder no one in your family can stand you! I'm even surprised Rose herself didn't ditch you when she had the chance. Wouldn't be here now would we, huh, Ava?!"

She gasps, tears filling her eyes. Ace ignores the tiny twang of guilt that rises up.

"How...how can you say that?" she sniffles, crossing her arms defensively. "You don't know what we've been through together before you showed up."

"Came out of my mouth, didn't it?" He snaps, his voice choking. "I'd never felt anything with anyone like I had with Rose. And now I'm not even sure I'll feel that again."

"You know what, Cruz. Screw you." she says before lunging at him.

"Hey, cut it out back there," Wes yells at them, trying not to swerve in and out of the lanes. "We're almost at the hospital."

Ava either doesn't hear him or ignores him as the scuffle continues. The second the car stops the door swings open and Ace takes a nasty fall onto the concrete of the parking lot. The asphalt feels like spiked sandpaper on his bruised body. When he gets up, his side is bleeding horribly.

"What the heck is your problem, Ava?" Wes demands, seeing the damage. For the first time she stays silent, biting her lip anxiously. "Ace, how bad is it?"

"On a scale of one to ten," he gasps, holding his side. "I'd say...a...Oh my God…"

"Ace?!" Wes's voice becomes fainter and the sky becomes blurrier until he is engulfed in pitch darkness.

(Time Skip)

He wakes up to the sound of machines bleeping somewhere in the background. Tubes are going in and out of him, pumping unknown liquids. Wes is hovering over him.

"Finally, you're awake. After your surgery, you got an infection and were rushed to the ICU. You didn't come to for a few days. Rose has been worried sick about you."

"She's alive?" he slurs, the sluggishness from doing nothing for days catching up to him. Though his body is weak, his mind is racing with joy. "She's okay?"

"Small concussion, but yeah. Should be going home any day now."

"What did you say to her?"

"I told her that was one of the dumbest, most reckless thing she'd ever. And, considering the fact that she broke into a top-notch school and narrowly evading a football player, that's saying a lot. Then I apologized for what I said to her, and we made up," he says with a small smirk. "You're a lucky guy, Ace. So am I."

"We all are," he replies, blushing slightly. "When can I see her?"

"When you can walk on your two feet, Lover Boy, Wes remarks with a chuckle before becoming sober. "There's something I gotta tell you though...and you might not like it."

"What?"

"Ava's dad and her brother left the country, with everything. Left Ava stranded her with nowhere to go. Now, Rose, being the overly caring person she is...may or may not have let her stay with her. With no evidence against her...Ava's a free woman. No gun, no one with clean credibility to witness, no nothing...The worst she can get is a suspension...I'm really sorry."

"Tell me you're joking…"

"I wish I was."

"It's going to continue…"

"No it won't, Ace."

"This time I might actually end up dead!"

The heart monitor increases in tempo. Ace feels himself bordering on hysteria

"Ace, for the love of all things at Wings Atomica, CALM DOWN!" Wes hisses, gripping his wrist firmly. "I swear, she won't be able to hurt anyone again."

"I really need to talk to Rose right now."

"You need to relax. Things will be fine."

"Why are you telling me this now?!"

"I didn't want you to freak out when you got out of the hospital." Wes explains. "I'm asking you as my best friend, keep. Your. Head. On."

"I don't even know what to think anymore. One minute, I'm bumping shoes with politicians and the next I'm in the hospital for the the fourth time in the past two months," he mutters bitterly. There's a knock at the door and Wes looks at his watch.

"Looks like I gotta go. Call me when you get out of the hospital," he says, turning to leave as his parents enter. He involuntarily takes a sharp breath.

"Mom? Da-" is all he gets out before his mother hugs him. Ace is somewhat surprised by this. There was no one else around.

"Bartholomew," his mother weeps. "We thought we lost you again."

"What's going on?" He asks, obviously suspicious. "I didn't rat anyone out to the police."

"You should have," his father states. "I was mad, but I promised no matter how much you disappoint me, he would never lash out at you again. Once it happened again, I couldn't stop. It was only when you attempted suicide that I finally came to my senses."

"Then you went missing again and we thought and Rose had run away together until she told us you had been shot and kidnapped. When we got the call from the hospital we assumed the worst had happened. And now, here you are."

"You saved some lives in these few days. That's actually impressive, Bartholomew, er...son," his dad says, giving him a squeeze of the shoulder. "Even though you disobeyed my orders to do so. "

"Thanks, Dad," Ace manages to get out. "That means a lot to me."

"Son, I'm proud of you."

(Time Skip)

"The fact that I have to be blindfolded in a car kinda worries me about your intentions, Wes," Ace remarks.

"Hey, this is part of your Liberation Celebration, as Payton puts it," Wes replies. After a period of time, the car finally stops. The car door opens and the all too familiar breeze greets him. Wes guides him outside onto a grassy terrain. "Ok, when I say so, take off your blindfolds. Aaaaaaanddd….now!"

The first thing that her sees is Rose's beaming face. Almost immediately, she wraps her arms around his neck and his around her waist. For a few minutes, it's just the two of them there.

"I missed you," he whispers into her soft hair. "Don't scare me like that again."

"Me? I just have a concussion. You went into a mini-coma," she lightly retorts, pulling him closer. "I'm just glad you're back, though."

"So...my dad visited me in the hospital."

"Oh no," she gasps. "What happened?"

"It actually went pretty well," he answers. "He said he's proud of me. He's almost never said that to me. He said this whole experience finally made him come to his senses. I don't think this means he'll stop being hard on me, but-"

"Ace," she interrupts, bringing her finger to his lips. "That's wonderful."

"I know," he sighs in relief. "Anyway, I heard there was a special Liberation Celebration going on today…"

"Almost forgot," she giggles, taking his hand and guiding him into her house. "Come on, I'm sure you're sick of hospital food by now."

(Time Skip)

"SURPRISE!" A whole crowd of students yells as the door opens. Confetti slowly floats around the room, glistening like little stars.

Ace takes one look at the confetti, then at Rose, then teasingly says to her, "Make a wish."

Smirking, she says, "I wish you'd shut up and just enjoy yourself."

"Your wish is my command." He swoops her up and passionately kisses her, arousing an explosion of awwws.


	30. Restart

"Ace," Rose murmurs when they break away. "You're embarrassing me in front of practically the entire school… and my dad and brother."

He looks up and everyone is simply gawking the public display of affection. Ross is leaning against a wall, casually smirking. Rose's dad...is wearing a police uniform and gives him a look that says, "Mess with my little girl and I'll castrate you."

"Fine, but you owe me," he teases, rubbing her plump cheek tenderly as it heats up in embarrassment. She pulls him towards the living room, where clusters of friends and couples are dancing.

"Look who finally decided to join the party!" Payton cheers, briefly letting go of one of Ezra's hands to wave at them.

"Full disclosure, I'm not a good dancer at all," Rose admits.

"Don't worry," he assures her. "I kinda suck at dancing too. Never had the time, you get me?"

After a period of awkward footing ("Umm...that's my foot you just stepped on."), bumping into other people ("Sorry Logan!"), and nearly ending up on the floor ("Note to self, don't spin around eight times…"), they decide to retire from the dance floor and find themselves at the snack table.

"OMG, this new brand of kale chips is to die for," a foodie girl exclaims, snapping a picture with her cell phone. She turns to a scowling hipster girl. "Am I right, Maddie?"

"I can't believe you posted confidential information on your stupid blog, Kayla," Maddie mutters. "Damn mainstream people...,"

"Heh, whoops," Kayla remarks sheepishly. "At least now people can find more good food. Speaking of which...they, Ace and Rose, how about I get a picture for the blog of you two eating the kale chips?"

"Um...sure?" They each take one. Kayla snaps a picture as they bite into it.

"So...what did you think?" Kayla asks excitedly.

"Best thing I ever tasted," Ace lies.

"Thanks for your input!"

When Kayla is out of earshot, he whispers to Rose, " _Worst thing I ever tasted._ "

She rolls her eyes and picks up another chip and says, "Your loss."

Ace smiles at her. A burning question stops him. Amidst all the jovial partygoers, there was someone who simply did not belong here.

"Rose...about Ava…" he cautiously begins. Rose stops nibbling on a chip and frowns.

"In the guestroom...Ace, I know you don't agree with what I did, but think about it. Her family straight up abandoned her. She literally had nothing else to go. And, in case you've forgotten...we used to be friends," Rose explains. He hated to admit it, but she had a point.

"I respect your decision," he says. "Even if I don't agree with it. You're one in a million, Rose."

She blushes slightly and replies, "Thanks…you too."

"Get a room, you two," Ross jokes, ruffling Rose's hair. "But not my room!"

"Whatever, Ross!" Rose retorts, batting his hands away. "But we will take your advice and get a room. It's kinda crowded here, anyway."

Ace can't tell which was more embarrassing, the fact that he's just turned firehouse red or the fact that everyone within earshot is gawking at them.

Rose, equally red faced, waves them off, saying, "Gosh you dirty minded people. Can't two people go off just to hang out...or maybe cuddle."

This generates a chorus of giggling and cooing, particularly from the girls. They quickly make their way towards Rose's room and close the door.

"So, I heard you like cuddling?" he says, pulling her into a snug embrace. For a while, they just lie on the bed, listening to the sound of each other's heartbeat. He buries his face into her fluffy pink hair. "Gosh, you're so beautiful, Rose."

She looks up at him, surprised. "You really think so?"

"I always did. But I thought you didn't need to be told that."

"It's...complicated, Ace."

"Rose, I know what those awful kids did to you. They made you feel fat and worthless."

"I am…" she says, her lip quivering slightly. "I always have been."

" That's not who you are, that's how you feel. And this is how I feel. Rose...when I first met you, I thought I felt a connection between us. But...you know...gotta keep it professional...I was planning to ask you out after the Hamilton Internship Gala...but then stuff happened...and I thought I was never going to talk to the pretty heroine who'd convince me to save her little school again. And now here I am."

"It's funny...everyone thinks I'm so talented and perfect. Barely anyone knows what I'm really like. But when an entire school rests on your hands, you gotta put on a brave face and act like what they say or how they treat you doesn't matter… even when it really does." She tears up a little, and it makes Ace hold onto her tighter.

"You're fine...you're fine," he says to soothe her. "Hear my heartbeat? Just focus on that."

"How do you do it?" She sniffs. "Even when you might have a million emotions running through your head...you always seem so calm on the outside."

"It isn't easy, I'll tell you that. But with you and Wes...I couldn't be better. I'm glad to be by your side. You mean a lot to me…" He captures her lips with his, fully embracing her curvy frame.

(Time Skip)

"Looks like you're back on top of the world, Lover Boy," Wes teases him as they make their way to their next period class. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

"I know. With all we've been through...it's worth it. Crap. I just realized I have a lot of work to do since I got kidnapped and later went into surgery."

"It can wait. Let's get to class," Wes rolls his eyes.

"I just have one question...what made you give me another chance?"

"Instinct...and experience told me something was wrong with you. Then Rose convinced me to give you the benefit of the doubt, which I did… under the condition that I'd make you pay dearly if you messed with her again. On a business level, I was pissed that I got blindsided and got Rose burned when I could've stopped you. On a personal level, it kinda stung to see you throw away seven years of friendship over a stupid internship. I guess I wasn't ready to let it go for good."

"Thanks. Let's get to homeroom. I heard principal's making a special announcement."

" 'Bout what?"

"Some new students."

 **Aaaaaand that's a wrap, folks. Thanks for sticking with the story for so long. This is my first completed fanfiction.** **A word on Fall From Grace as a whole…** **(Skip this of you want to go straight to a sneak peak of the next part of this saga.)** **When I first started writing this fanfic, it was the summer of 10th grade. (Do. Not. Laugh.) I'd just finished the main Ace storyline. I noticed a difference in Ace's parents' reactions to what he did.** **Ace's Mom: You're in a lot of trouble son. But I'm proud of you.** **Ace's Dad: [Says something along the lines of… "No son of mine would humiliate me like this"]** **If you choose to re-admit Ace, his dad never appears or is mentioned in Ace's quest or quests where he makes a cameo. And I'm like, WTH went down between those two after all this? So I thought about their previous encounters.** **How defeated he looked after speaking to his dad on the phone.** **His dad spent the time tearing his son down at dinner.** **His father looks surprised if MC chooses to defend Ace and decides to throw one final jab at Ace before checking up on him in the kitchen.** **When Ace returns he has a fake smile on his face.** **"No matter what I do it's never enough. I can't measure up."** **"Not surprisingly, my dad's livid."** **Which gave me the idea to write this part angsty part romantic drama before school started.** **Putting Rose (the MC) with Ace was actually a last minute thought.** **So was putting Ava as a major antagonist. At first, she was going to be some bratty background character who basically makes Ace's life hell. But why stop there? Why not introduce a character who poses as a threat to Ace's chance of redemption? Her immense crush on Rose, her vindictive family, and her previous rivalry in grade school with Ace were mean to give her a sense of humanity (I mean she did try to kill him more than once.) The only reason I didn't have her arrested in the end because, let's face it. In MLP EG, Sunset Shimmer enslaves the student body, causes collateral damage to the school and nearly destroys Twilight and her friends. The worst she gets is being shunned by her classmates and having to rebuild the school. Plus, I want to see if there's a chance Ava can be redeemed.** **On the topic of Rose's body image issues, I simply hated the "All HSS characters have the same body model in the game" stuff. Besides, she can't be caring and smart and have a great body all at once! I thought it would be better if Rose was more on the chubby side. It gave her more of a backstory as to why she founded Lakeside High in the first place. I'll elaborate more in the next part.**

(Continue Reading)

Anyway… here's a sneak peek of the new antagonist of the next part, Frosty Connections.

???'s POV

I can't believe those grody freshmen put some stink bombs in the ventilators and now we have to relocate to different schools. My current boyfriend, Aiden Zhang and I got assigned to some school called Lakeside High school. Some lanky junior tosses a newspaper on the table where we are sitting outside. It lands smack in front of Aiden, blowing some of his papers off the table. One of them narrowly hits me. Aiden's too lost in thought, but I'm pissed.

"ExCUSE you," I snap, grabbing the brat by her ponytail. "My boyfriend's trying to work here and you just came and dumped this piece of...hey...I recognize this girl in the picture…"

"Yeah. Rose Brinkwater. She used to go here." The junior butts in. I narrow my eyes at the little twerp.

"I wasn't asking you, beanpole," I sneer, trying to look at the paper. There she was, her mousy brown hair dyed a nauseating pink, her flabby arms wrapped around a really hot dude in a red sweater. To my surprise, he's smiling and hugging her back. How much was he paid to do that? Damn, she lost a little weight over time...but Miss. Piggy's got a long way to go before she can even imagine having a body like mine. Aiden's ears perk up when he hears Rose's name and looks at the paper, much to my chagrin. Here we go again.

"Former Pariah turns Do-Gooder After Saving Hometown Hero," Aiden reads softly, a wistful expression on his face. I'm not surprised. Let's just say Aiden and Rose had some...history before she transferred. After she had a total meltdown after the marker incident, she very messily broke things off with him. Not surprisingly, Aiden was devastated. Luckily I just so happened to be in the music room where he was playing that song her wrote for her, nearly in tears. I'll be damned if I'll let her do the same thing to this fine piece of tanned meat. "Rose moved on…"

But first, I had to comfort the poor boy sitting next to me.

"Rose really meant a lot to you," I say in a saccharine voice. "But she's moved on. I think you should too."

"I guess you're right. It's not fair to you to dwell on someone in the past," Aiden admits, shrugging his shoulders. "I...I just hope there aren't any hard feelings between us when we see each other again."

"I don't think that's such a good idea if she's making you feel this way," I say, silently hoping he would agree with me. The last thing I need is for Obese Godzilla to win his heart back after she so callously broke it. I put an arm around Aiden's shoulder. "Besides, you have me now. You don't need Rose to make you happy."

"I don't know. Promise you'll be there when I talk to her?" He asks, holding my hands in his.

 _Oh._ _My._ _God._ _ **No**!_

I bet he still has feelings for that fat cow! Not on my watch. I guess I'll stick around, for Aiden's sake. And to keep tabs on that new man she's with.

If Rose Brinkwater needs to be put in her place again…

 **So be it.**


End file.
